The Daily Background

Fitzgerald eyed for firing by Sampson, White House
Patrick Fitzgerald came this close to getting fired along with other US Attorneys according to a recently released chart obtained by the Washington Post and created by Kyle Sampson, Attorney General Gonzales’ (now former) Chief of Staff.

The WaPo reports that in 2005, just as Rove, Sampson and Miers were planning to fire several prosecutors, Fitzgerald was listed among US Attorneys who had “not distinguished themselves” in the Administration’s mind. Two other prosecutors with the same rating were fired: Daniel Bogden (US Attorney for Nevada) and Paul Charlton (US Attorney for Arizona).

Ironically enough, despite the label of “not distinguished,” the same Administration gave Fitzgerald the 2002 Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service.

The Post is understandably quick to recall the obvious facts about what Fitzgerald was investigating in 2005. For a background refresher on the Attorney firing scandal overall, see the following items:
The US Attorney Scandal in 15 steps for Dummies and Why were the US Attorneys really fired? Possible reasons trickle out.

Gore on the Hill tomorrow
Vice President Al Gore hopes to deliver 500,000 messages to members of Congress, urging them to take the threat of global climate change more seriously on Wednesday. Click here to sign your name- he’s already passed 400,000 in a relatively short amount of time. As per our special political calendar, Gore also testifies before the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works (Barbara Boxer D-CA, Chair) tomorrow.

House
Nothing big, both Senate and House Judiciary Committee members will likely make statements about the US Attorney scandal now that their staffs have started sifting through the more than 3,000 page document dump released Monday night.

One of the first scoops from the document dump is that former Republican Representative Randy “Duke” Cunningham complained about prosecutor Carol Lam to Attorney General before he plead guilty in her corruption investigation. Lam was one of the eight US Attorneys fired for unclear reasons in December.

Senate
More debate on Senator Feinstein (D-CA)’s bill to preserve the independence of US Attorneys.

Iraq
3,218 (3,218 yesterday). Although, if you’re Tim Russert, that number might be 25 less.

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