My own favorite moment from the Kyle Sampson Testimony

This is my favorite "gotcha" moment from yesterday, thank you very much Sen. Feinstein. Feinstein was questioning Sampson on the firing of Carol Lam, the San Diego US attorney. She was fired because she supposedly didn't do enough about the immigration cases.

Here's what happened:

Sampson claimed that the “real problem” with Carol Lam that Sampson referred to in an email “was her office’s prosecution of immigration cases.”

Feinstein told Sampson, “It is a real surprise to me that you would say here that the reason for her dismissal was immigration cases.” She then revealed a letter of commendation to Carol Lam dated Feb. 15, 2007, signed by the director of field operations of the United States Customs and Border Protection Agency.

Here's some of the excerpts from the letter that Sen. Feinstein read and the whole letter can be seen here:

In support of Border Patrol referrals for prosecution, your office maintains a 100 percent acceptance rate of criminal cases while staunchly refusing to reduce felony charges to misdemeanors and maintaining a minimal dismissal rate and supporting special prosecution efforts.

“I speak for my entire staff when I say that we are honored to have had the privilege of working with you and your staff for the past four years. … Again, thank you for your support; you will be missed.”


Oh, slam, Sen Feinstein!

Also at a hearing with FBI Director Robert Mueller this week, Feinstein said that Dzwilewski’s office had told her it had subsequently been contacted and “warned to say no more.” Under questioning today, Sampson acknowledged he had made a call to complain about Dzwilewski’s statement. But Sampson said he had merely “asked…why an FBI employee was commenting on that issue.”

OOOOps!