Contrary to suggestion by CBS' Axelrod, not only “Democrats say” that U.S. attorney in Ark. was fired to make way for Rove aide

Written by Julie Millican

Published


During a March 13 segment on the Bush administration's controversial firings of eight U.S. attorneys, CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod reported that “Democrats say” that “the U.S. attorney in Arkansas was fired ... to open a job for a [White House senior adviser] Karl Rove deputy.” But, contrary to Axelrod's suggestion, it is not just “Democrats” who say that H.E. “Bud” Cummins III was “fired ... to open a job for a Rove deputy.” In a recently released December 19, 2006, email, D. Kyle Sampson, chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales at the time, stated: “Getting him [former Rove deputy J. Timothy Griffin] appointed was important to Harriet, Karl, etc." -- a reference to Rove and then-White House counsel Harriet Miers.

Moreover, as Media Matters for America has noted, during a February 6 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty said the forced resignation of Cummins as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas was administered not because of Cummins' poor performance, but “to provide a fresh start with a new person in that position.” This “new person” was Griffin, who replaced Cummins in December 2006.

From the March 13 edition of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric:

AXELROD: The concern is over emails made public today between President Bush's former White House lawyer, Harriet Miers, and Gonzales' chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, who resigned yesterday. Sampson wrote to Miers two years ago about a chart ranking all 93 U.S. attorneys. “Keep strong U.S. attorneys who exhibited loyalty to the president. Remove weak U.S. attorneys who chafed against administration initiatives.”

Last fall, the list was narrowed, and Sampson wrote Miers: “Upon the green light, we'll circulate the plan and ask that you circulate it to Karl's shop,” meaning Karl Rove, the president's top political deputy. And just days before the firings, from Miers' deputy to Sampson, “We're a go for the U.S. attorney replacement plan.”

Why is the White House worried? Because Democrats allege that some prosecutors, who were supposed to be apolitical, were fired as political payoffs. For instance, the U.S. attorney in Arkansas was fired, Democrats say, to open a job for a Karl Rove deputy.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D-NY): This administration has blatantly manipulated the U.S. attorney system to serve its political needs.

AXELROD: On the last day of the president's trip to Latin America, his aides admitted Mr. Bush did ask Gonzales about the performance of certain prosecutors, but denied directing anyone to be fired.