Pointing the Finger at the White House

It's a lot like that Sherlock Holmes story about the dog that didn't bark in the night.

The report specifically raises the possibility of White House involvement in at least four of the firings. It lists Todd Graves of the western district of Missouri as the first U.S. attorney to go in the purge, not long after the White House counsel's office complained that Missouri's Republican Senator Christopher Bond was urging the White House to remove him.

In June 2006, Arkansas U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins was the second U.S. attorney told to resign, and "the evidence shows that the main reason for Cummins's removal was to provide a position for former White House official Tim Griffin" to please Karl Rove.

"The other seven U.S. Attorneys were all told to resign on December 7, 2006. The most controversial case was the removal of New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. . . . [W]e were unable to uncover all the facts pertaining to his removal because of the refusal by key witnesses to be interviewed. . . . However, the evidence we uncovered showed that Iglesias was removed because of complaints to the Department and the White House by Senator [Pete] Domenici and other New Mexico Republican political officials and party activists about Iglesias's handling of voter fraud and public corruption cases in the New Mexico."

And fired U.S. attorney John McKay "told us that White House Counsel Miers and Deputy White House Counsel William Kelley told him at a meeting in August 2006 -- a few weeks before McKay's name reappeared on the removal list -- that Washington State Republicans were displeased with his handling of voter fraud complaints. Because Miers and Kelley, as well as Rove, declined to cooperate with our investigation, and because we were denied access to internal White House documents, we cannot rule out the possibility that McKay's handling of voter fraud complaints played a part in the decision to remove him from office."

Bailout Watch

Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane write for The Washington Post: "President Bush this morning urged lawmakers to act quickly to approve the financial system bailout plan hammered out over the weekend, acknowledging that the vote will be 'difficult' in the face of opposition from taxpayers and voters but necessary to protect the economy.

"With House members likely facing a yes or no vote this morning on a $700 billion plan that has sparked widespread public opposition, Bush tried to give the bailout package a Main Street spin.

"'A vote for this bill is a vote to prevent economic damage to you and your community' by stabilizing financial markets and renewing the flow of credit, Bush said, attempting to undercut arguments that the proposed legislation bolsters Wall Street at taxpayers' expense. 'This is a bold bill that will keep the crisis in our financial system from spreading through our economy.' "

The Washington Post editorial board writes: "There have been bumps along the road -- the most significant of which was a contentious White House meeting sparked by the highly dramatic and seemingly counterproductive intervention of Republican presidential nominee John McCain. But as difficult and bitter as the process has been, the rescue, if it passes both houses of Congress, could be remembered as a case study in bipartisanship under extremely difficult circumstances."

AFP reports: "The White House sought to reassure anxious Republican lawmakers on Sunday over a proposed 700-billion-dollar Wall Street bailout, saying the government expects assets acquired from troubled banks to eventually generate income and ease any potential burden on taxpayers.

"'The impact on the taxpayer will be considerably less than 700 billion dollars,' White House budget director Jim Nussle said in a letter to the Republican leader in the House of Representatives, John Boehner."

Language Watch

Brian Stelter writes in the New York Times: "Mr. Bush and other government officials have characterized the measure in positive terms -- 'rescue plan' and 'asset relief program' -- thereby carefully avoiding more loaded words like 'bailout.'"