Fired U.S. Attorneys: A Who's Who April 15, 2007 The Bush administration fired seven U.S. attorneys on a single day last December. After Democrats took control of both chambers of …
Mar 23, 2007 · Tom Heffelfinger, a former U.S. attorney from Minnesota who served under Bush -- as well as in the elder Bush’s administration -- said a …
Dec 01, 2018 · NPR's Scott Simon speaks with former attorney general Dick Thornburgh. He served under President George H.W. Bush and shares his remembrances. We're going to turn now to Dick Thornburgh. Of course ...
Mar 16, 2007 · The March 14 Journal editorial also asserted that the Bush administration dismissed former U.S. attorney John McKay because he had “declined” to investigate allegations of voter fraud in the 2004...
On December 7, 2006, the George W. Bush Administration's Department of Justice ordered the unprecedented midterm dismissal of seven United States attorneys. Congressional investigations focused on whether the Department of Justice and the White House were using the U.S. Attorney positions for political advantage.
Alberto GonzalesOfficial portrait, 200580th United States Attorney GeneralIn office February 3, 2005 – September 17, 2007PresidentGeorge W. Bush31 more rows
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Delivers Remarks Honoring the 20th Anniversary of the September 11 Attacks | OPA | Department of Justice.Sep 10, 2021
John AshcroftPreceded byKit BondSucceeded byMel Carnahan38th Attorney General of MissouriIn office January 10, 1977 – January 14, 198536 more rows
A chronological list of past California attorneys general is below....California Former Attorneys General.Matthew Rodriguez2021 – 2021John K. Van de Kamp1983 – 1991George Deukemejian1979 – 1983Evelle J. Younger1971 – 1979Thomas C. Lynch1964 – 197129 more rows
Condoleezza RiceIn office January 26, 2005 – January 20, 2009PresidentGeorge W. BushDeputyRichard Armitage Robert Zoellick John NegropontePreceded byColin Powell26 more rows
Eric Schmitt (Republican Party)Missouri / Attorney generalEric Stephen Schmitt is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 43rd Attorney General of Missouri since 2019. He previously served as the 46th State Treasurer of Missouri from 2017 to 2019. Wikipedia
September 11, 2001September 11 attacksDateSeptember 11, 2001 8:14 a.m. – 10:03 a.m. (EDT)TargetWorld Trade Center (AA 11 and UA 175) The Pentagon (AA 77) U.S. Capitol or White House (UA 93; unsuccessful due to diversion by passengers)Attack typeIslamic terrorism Aircraft hijackings Suicide attacks Mass murder8 more rows
Attorney General Merrick B. GarlandMeet the Attorney General Attorney General Merrick B. Garland was sworn in as the 86th Attorney General of the United States on March 11, 2021.
Janet RenoOfficial portrait, c. 1990s78th United States Attorney GeneralIn office March 12, 1993 – January 20, 2001PresidentBill Clinton16 more rows
Jay AshcroftIncumbentAssumed office January 9, 2017GovernorEric Greitens Mike ParsonPreceded byJason Kander10 more rows
In response to congressional inquiries, the Department of Justice released a series of internal communications — including e-mails with White House staff — that preceded the firings of eight U.S. attorneys.
The Bush administration fired seven U.S. attorneys on a single day last December. After Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress in January, they began hearings into whether those dismissals — as well as an earlier one, in June 2006 — were politically motivated. Political furor has ensued. Follow events so far:
As counsel to Governor Bush, Gonzales helped advise Bush in connection with jury duty when he was called in a 1996 Travis County drunk driving case. The case led to controversy during Bush's 2000 presidential campaign because Bush's answers to the potential juror questionnaire did not disclose Bush's own 1976 misdemeanor drunk driving conviction. Gonzales made no formal request for Bush to be excused from jury duty but raised a possible conflict of interest because as the Governor, Bush might be called upon to pardon the accused party. Gonzales's work in this case has been described as "canny lawyering".
On August 26, 2007, Gonzales submitted his resignation as Attorney General with an effective date of September 17, 2007. In a statement on August 27, Gonzales thanked the President for the opportunity to be of service to his country, giving no indication of either the reasons for his resignation or his future plans.
Gonzales fought with Congress to keep Vice President Dick Cheney 's Energy Task Force documents from being reviewed. His arguments were ultimately upheld by courts. On July 2, 2004, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Vice President, but remanded the case back to the D.C. Circuit. On May 11, 2005, the D.C. Circuit threw out the lawsuit and ruled the Vice President was free to meet in private with energy industry representatives in 2001 while drawing up the President's energy policy.
By law, U.S. Attorneys are appointed for a term of four years, and each U.S. Attorney serves at the pleasure of the President and is subject to removal by the President for any reason, or no reason at all, barring only illegal and improper reasons. When Gonzales became Attorney General in 2005, he ordered a performance review of all U.S. Attorneys. On December 7, 2006, seven United States attorneys were notified by the United States Department of Justice that they were being dismissed, after the George W. Bush administration sought their resignation. One more, Bud Cummins, who had been informed of his dismissal in June 2006, announced his resignation on December 15, 2006, effective December 20, 2006, upon being notified of Tim Griffin 's appointment as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. In the subsequent congressional hearings and press reports, it was disclosed that additional U.S. attorneys were controversially dismissed without explanation to the dismissee in 2005 and 2006, and that at least 26 U.S. attorneys were at various times considered for dismissal.
On January 18, 2007, Gonzales was invited to speak to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he shocked the committee's ranking member, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, with statements regarding the right of habeas corpus in the United States Constitution. An excerpt of the exchange follows:
Alberto Gonzales. For other people named Alberto González, see Alberto González (disambiguation). Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955) is an American lawyer who served as the 80th United States Attorney General, appointed in February 2005 by President George W. Bush, becoming the highest-ranking Hispanic American in executive government ...
United States Air Force. Years of service. 1973–1975. Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955) is an American lawyer who served as the 80th United States Attorney General, appointed in February 2005 by President George W. Bush, becoming the highest-ranking Hispanic American in executive government to date. He was the first Hispanic ...
In December 2006, the Bush administration fired seven U.S. attorneys, having fired one previously. As Media Matters for America has previously noted, three of the dismissed prosecutors were, according to a March 1 Washington Post article, “conducting corruption probes involving Republicans” when they were asked to step down, ...
attorney John McKay because he had “declined” to investigate allegations of voter fraud in the 2004 Washington state gubernatorial race “apparently on the grounds that he had better things to do.” In fact, McKay testified that he did not convene a grand jury to investigate the matter because “there was no evidence of voter fraud.”
Harry S. Truman. Douglas MacArthur, Commander of U.N. forces in Korea. Truman fired MacArthur for insubordination after privately pushing for a wider war with China and publicly criticizing Truman. After being dismissed, he was invited to address a joint session of Congress.
Flynn was fired the first time for sharing sensitive information with foreign intelligence officials without authorization. Donald Trump. Sally Yates, Acting Attorney General. Trump fired Yates when she sent out a memo instructing Justice staff not to defend the executive order banning travel by certain populations.
Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense. After presiding over the escalation of the Vietnam war, McNamara recommended a negotiated peace and withdrawal in 1967. His recommendations were rejected and he left office, later saying, “I do not know to this day whether I quit or was fired.”. Richard Nixon.
Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy was asked to resign a month before the 1994 midterms, under fire for his use of government perks and acceptance of gifts. Alberto Gonzales (CQ Roll Call Archive Photo) George W. Bush. Paul O ’ Neill, Secretary of Treasury.
Trump responded “FAKE NEWS!” to reports in late 2017 that he was planning to fire his Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, and replace him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Three and a half months later, a Trump tweet informed Tillerson he would indeed be replaced by Pompeo. Jeff Sessions , Attorney General.
President Donald Trump, long known for his reality television show’s signature line, “You’re fired,” has continued its use during his time in office. Here, Roll Call catalogues the last 70 years or so of presidents notably telling top officials to “take a hike.”. President Harry S. Truman through Trump:
Amid the Watergate investigation, Richard Nixon asked attorney general Elliot Richardson and his deputy, William Ruckelshaus, to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who months earlier had subpoenaed Nixon’s Oval Office recordings. Both lawyers opted to resign instead. In the wake of what was dubbed the Saturday Night Massacre, the President’s approval rating dropped to 27 percent. Four decades on, the presidential oustings are still the most infamous.
In 1981 , Ronald Reagan fired 11,400 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization 48 hours after offering them an ultimatum: end their illegal strike or forfeit their jobs. The workers, seeking better pay and working conditions, were banned from federal employment.
Biggest Turnaround. On April 11, 1951, Harry S. Truman replaced popular general Douglas MacArthur with General Matthew Ridgway over what Truman called MacArthur’s “rank insubordination” during the Korean War. Enjoying a hero’s welcome back home, MacArthur was invited to speak to a joint session of Congress.
Abraham Lincoln fired General George McClellan, who wrote to his wife: “There never was a truer epithet applied to a certain individual than that of the ‘Gorilla.’ ” For his part, Lincoln said, “If General McClellan does not want to use the Army, I would like to borrow it.” In the 1864 election, McClellan ran against his old boss and lost. Lincoln then gave command of the army to future two-term President Ulysses S. Grant.
Before he was the President, Donald Trump was most famous for booting people on TV —a habit that has proved hard to quit.