Bush, Rove, Abramoff, and Guam

Are we finally going to learn how it happened that a federal prosecutor who was getting too close to one of Abramoff’s crooked deals suddenly got fired by the White House?

Remember story about how the U.S. Attorney for Guam got fired by the White House when it looked as if he might be getting too close to one of Abramoff’s crooked deals? Well, Arianna Huffington reports that the other shoe is about to drop. Yummy!

The original story fingered Karl Rove as the intermediary bad guy between Abramoff’s need and Bush’s action. It’s possible that Rove took the initiative in what seems to have been an obstruction of justice, without telling his boss about the background. But with Abramoff singing, it seems very likely that we’re going to learn exactly what Abramoff said to Rove, and what Rove told Abramoff about Bush’s involvement.

Back when this first broke I said that, if it could be shown that Bush dismissed a prosecutor in order to keep one of his political buddies out of prison, that would clearly constitute an impeachable offense. It’s not that I imagine that articles of impeachment could actually pass. But it’s time to start offering resolutions of inquiry, forcing the Republicans to endorse corruption by voting against them

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Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com