Gonzales could be prosecuted, McKay says
By Bill Morlin
Staff writer
October 20, 2007
The U.S. Inspector General may recommend criminal prosecution of
departed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the conclusion of an
investigation, possibly as early as next month, the fired former U.S.
attorney for Western Washington told a Spokane audience Friday.
His refusal to open a federal criminal investigation into voter fraud
allegations in Gov. Chris Gregoire¹s razor-thin victory over
Republican challenger Dino Rossi in 2004 may be the reason he was
fired, John McKay told the Federal Bar Association.
Appointed by President Bush in October 2001 to the top law
enforcement job in western Washington, McKay said he believes he and
seven other U.S. attorneys were fired last December by Gonzales for
political reasons, perhaps with former White House chief of staff
Karl Rove pulling strings.
Career prosecutors in his office and FBI agents agreed there was no
reason to go forward with a federal investigation of the
Gregoire-Rossi election, and issues associated with it were more
properly addressed by state officials, McKay said.
Some also have suggested his dismissal may have been tied to his
relentless push to solve the 2001 murder of Tom Wales, an assistant
U.S. attorney in Seattle. ³I consider that a disgusting
(explanation),¹¹ McKay said, explaining he didn¹t need to justify
aggressively pursuing the investigation of a prosecutor ³killed in
the line of duty.²
McKay said he was summoned to Washington, D.C., in June and
questioned for eight hours about possible reasons for his firing by
investigators with the Office of Inspector General, who will forward
their final report to Congress.
³My best guess is it will be released sometime next month,¹¹ and
likely will include recommendations for criminal prosecutions of
Gonzales and maybe others, McKay said.
Gonzales ³lied about² reasons for the firings when questioned under
oath in July by the Senate Judiciary Committee and now has hired a
lawyer and is refusing to answer questions from the Inspector
General, McKay said.
The White House said McKay was fired for poor performance ratings of
his office, but the ex-U.S. attorney said he and his office got
exemplary reviews just three months before he was fired.
³The chief law enforcement officer for the United States should not
lie under oath,¹¹ McKay told the bar association.
It was reported last week that Gonzales has now retained a
high-profile defense lawyer, and apparently is refusing to answer
questions from the Inspector General, which could signify the
investigation is nearly complete, McKay said.
³When it lands it is going to be an extremely negative report on
President Bush¹s Justice Department,¹¹ McKay told the packed
conference room, which included federal prosecutors and judges.
³There was a conspiracy to politicize the Justice Department,¹¹ the
former U.S. attorney said, ³and they did not get away with it.²
Under increasing pressure, Gonzales resigned Aug. 27.
Now a law professor at Seattle University, McKay said he thinks his
counterparts, David Iglesias, fired as U.S. attorney for New Mexico,
and Carol Lam, forced out as U.S. attorney in San Diego, also were
targeted for political reasons.
Iglesias has said he was pressured to bring an indictment against a
popular Democratic official before last November¹s mid-term election.
Iglesias has filed a Hatch Act complaint, alleging Rove and other
White House officials may have violated that federal law in his
firing.
Lam has said she believes her firing was tied her office¹s aggressive
investigation of Rep. Randy ³Duke² Cunningham, a Republican
congressman who later pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion.
It spawned a wider investigation into congressional corruption, and
Cunningham is now serving an 8-year prison term.
Immediately after his firing, McKay said he thought about ³going
quietly,¹¹ but then he began comparing notes with the seven other
U.S. attorneys dumped at the same time in a historically
unprecedented move by the White House.
³They led each one of us to believe we were the only one told to
resign,¹¹ he said. ³None of us particularly sought the spotlight.¹¹
McKay said he is now speaking out, giving his ³unvarnished
thoughts,¹¹ because he believes the 90 U.S. attorneys who serve at
the pleasure of the president still should remain independent in
choosing criminal cases, while exercising fairness and compassion.
His counterpart, Jim McDevitt, the U.S. attorney for Eastern
Washington, was in Washington, D.C., for Justice Department meetings
Friday and wasn¹t in the large crowd of attorneys and federal judges
who heard McKay speak to the Federal Bar Association at the Davenport
Hotel.
McKay spoke fondly of his friendship with McDevitt and said the two
would have coffee early today at the downtown hotel.
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/breaking/story.asp?ID=12036
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