E-Mails Show Machinations to Replace Prosecutor

[sabra]

Source: WP

Administration Worked for Months to Make Rove Aide U.S. Attorney in Arkansas

Two months before Bud Cummins was fired as U.S. attorney in Little Rock, a protege of presidential adviser Karl Rove was maneuvering with the Justice Department to take his place.

Last April, Tim Griffin, a Rove aide and longtime GOP operative, sent the attorney general's chief of staff a flattering letter about himself written by Cummins, the prosecutor he was trying to replace, internal e-mails released this week show. Rove and Harriet Miers, then the White House counsel, were keenly interested in putting him in the position, the e-mails reveal.

New documents also show that Justice and White House officials were preparing for President Bush's approval of the appointment as early as last summer, five months before Griffin took the job.

The unusual appointment of Griffin, now serving as the interim U.S. attorney in Little Rock, has been one of the central issues in the Justice Department's firing of eight U.S. attorneys, which led to this week's constitutional showdown between Congress and the White House over the testimony of some of Bush's closest advisers.


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/22/AR2007032202266.html

[rodeodance]

1. lots more than SMOKE.

[maddezmom]

2. this whole thing was stinky from the start

Former Bush aide named to U.S. attorney post (interim appt. no senate confirmation)
Saturday, Dec 16, 2006

By Aaron Sadler
Stephens Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - A former Republican political operative and top aide to President Bush was named late Friday as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

The appointment of Tim Griffin drew criticism from Arkansas senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, both Democrats. Pryor accused the Bush administration of circumventing the traditional nomination process on behalf of a political ally.

The open-ended appointment differs from a normal presidential selection, where Griffin would face Senate hearings and a confirmation vote.

Pryor believes the Senate should be able to quiz Griffin about his qualifications, especially given his background as Bush's deputy director of political affairs under Karl Rove, spokesman Michael Teague said.

Before that, Griffin worked in opposition research for the Republican National Committee.

"We hope it's not the White House's intention to go around the Constitution, go around the nomination process and reward a fellow who's done some political work for them," Teague said.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2655390

[Judi Lynn]

4. He's done some very dirty things for them, a few mentioned in your article:

A report by the BBC in 2004 connected Griffin to a possible effort to disenfranchise black voters in Florida. The report said an e-mailed list of 1,886 names was to be used to challenge residents' voting status.

In a November 2000 Time magazine report, Griffin was depicted as a zealous researcher who sought to discredit Democratic candidate Al Gore at any opportunity.

The magazine said a poster hanging behind Griffin's desk said: "On my command - unleash hell on Al."
(snip)

I hope we get the last laugh on these creeps.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Have you heard anything about his part in voter suppression?

Looking around I found this article from last week in an Arkansas paper:

One other resignation or dismissal ought to be imminent: Tim Griffin, the U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Arkansas, a former political operative for Karl Rove and a mastermind of Republican voter suppression activities in Florida and elsewhere in 2000 and 2004.
(snip)

Tim Griffin apparently was the prototype of the men the White House wanted. Emails from Griffin to the Bush re-election campaign in 2004 about suppressing Democratic votes in Florida found their way into the wrong hands because he typed in the wrong domain.

The BBC network did a story about Griffin’s “caging” lists to discourage Democratic voters. Griffin has refused to answer questions about his activities and told the White House that if it was going to send the new attorneys to the Senate for confirmation after all, it should not submit his. He insisted again this week that he would not answer questions.
(snip)

http://www.arkansasleader.com/2007/03/editorialsus-attorney-scandal-widens.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the "Arkansas Blog," quoting the BBC article mentioned above:

.....Griffin, according to BBC Television, was the hidden hand behind a scheme to wipe out the voting rights of 70,000 citizens prior to the 2004 election.

Key voters on Griffin’s hit list: Black soldiers and homeless men and women. Nice guy, eh? Naughty or nice, however, is not the issue. Targeting voters where race is a factor is a felony crime under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In October 2004, our investigations team at BBC Newsnight received a series of astonishing emails from Mr. Griffin, then Research Director for the Republican National Committee. He didn’t mean to send them to us. They were highly confidential memos meant only for RNC honchos. ...

The Griffin scheme was sickly brilliant. We learned that the RNC sent first-class letters to new voters in minority precincts marked, “Do not forward.” Several sheets contained nothing but soldiers, other sheets, homeless shelters. Targets included the Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida and that city’s State Street Rescue Mission. Another target, Edward Waters College, a school for African-Americans.
(snip/...)

http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/2007/03/todays_tim_griffin_report.aspx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you've already heard this, sorry. It's new to me, but I've been running behind in my reading lately.



Tim Griffin

[maddezmom]

5. Cummins should have been looking to prosecute this asshat

not writing nice letters about him.

[LizW]

6. Kicking for the folks just getting up. n/t