[Sosfbay-discuss] McCloskey compares US Attorney Firings to Watergate

[Wes Rolley]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/03/06/EDGRJN7AHK1.DTL 


*Open Forum
When politics infects justice
*Pete McCloskey
Tuesday, March 6, 2007

It seems ironic that U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., who was listed on 
Nixon's Enemies List, will be the one wielding the gavel in another 
search for the truth at a time when so many of us have begun to wonder 
whether our government is capable of providing us with the truth.

One of the tragic moments in American history occurred in November 1973. 
This was the famous "Saturday Night Massacre," when President Richard 
Nixon, faced with the demand for incriminating tapes and documents by 
Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, took an action that would 
lead to his resignation from the presidency in disgrace less than a year 
later. Nixon ordered U.S. Attorney General Elliott Richardson to fire 
Cox. When Richardson refused and instead resigned, as did his second in 
command, William Ruckelshaus, U.S. Solicitor General Robert Bork stepped 
up to fire Cox.

That action triggered a tough inquiry into the Watergate scandal by the 
House Judiciary Committee, chaired by U.S. Rep. Peter Rodino, a 
mild-mannered congressman from New Jersey. In July 1974, after seven 
months of public hearings, the committee in a bipartisan vote adopted 
several articles of impeachment, the chief of which was for obstruction 
of justice. Nixon had ordered the FBI to cease its inquiry into the 
money trail the CIA had discovered, leading from the president's 
personal lawyer, Herb Kalmbach, through various hands to pay off the 
Watergate burglary's mastermind, E. Howard Hunt. Hunt had threatened to 
reveal the details of the burglary to U.S. District Court Judge John 
Sirica, who presided over the Watergate case, unless he was paid.

One of the younger members of the Judiciary Committee at the time was 
Conyers, a man Nixon had put on his notorious "Enemies List" for 
whatever punishment federal agencies such as the IRS might devise.

As a result of the Judiciary Committee's inquiries and the work of 
several dedicated U.S. attorneys, not only was Nixon forced from office, 
but his attorney general, John Mitchell, was indicted and sent to jail 
for his part in the Watergate coverup.

Now, 32 years later, another Republican attorney general, Alberto 
Gonzales, faces questioning by both the Senate and House Judiciary 
committees, on grounds that he has used his high office for political 
purposes to remove eight U.S. attorneys, several of whom had been 
involved in investigations of Republican congressmen, such as Randy 
"Duke" Cunningham of San Diego, Robert Ney of Ohio and John Doolittle of 
Rocklin (Placer County).

And who chairs the Judiciary Committee today? None other than Nixon's 
old enemy, John Conyers.

Among the reasons many Americans have lost faith in their government, 
the perceived use of the U.S. attorney general's office for political 
purposes looms large. In the past, independent prosecutors, such as San 
Francisco's John Keker, who prosecuted Lt. Col. Oliver North in the 
Iran-Contra scandal, and former Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick 
Fitzgerald, who is the chief prosecutor in the Lewis "Scooter" Libby 
trial, have preserved respect for the judicial process despite the 
machinations of political appointees in Washington. Under the Bush 
administration, however, the White House has been able to convince its 
attorney general to provide questionable legal opinions on the use of 
torture, warrantless wire-tapping and other practices that cause 
ordinary citizens to wonder whether government lawyers, like 
politicians, can be prevailed upon to change their views for political 
gain.

The investigations now being conducted by both the House and Senate 
Judiciary committees can go a long way toward restoring the faith of the 
people that our nation's courts, laws and prosecutors remain untainted 
by political influence. Having served with Conyers for some 15 years, I 
would not want to be in the shoes of Attorney General Gonzales when he 
is asked to stand and swear to tell the truth about the recent wave of 
firings of U.S. attorneys, at least eight of whom were presiding over 
public corruption investigations.

The truth will out and justice will be served.

/Pete McCloskey, who farms in Rumsey (Yolo County), represented the San 
Francisco Peninsula in Congress between 1967 and 1982. A Republican and 
former deputy district attorney, he made the first speech on the floor 
of the House on June 6, 1973, calling for impeachment of President 
Richard Nixon for obstruction of justice./

-- 

I have been impressed with the urgency of doing.
Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Being willing is not enough; 
We must do. –Leonardo DaVinci
Wesley C. Rolley
17211 Quail Court
Morgan Hill, CA 95037
(408)778-3024 - http://cagreening.blogspot.com