Sen. Feinstein investigating another US Attorney whose name was brought up to be fired.

Senator Feinstein has been questioning, through interviews, that Harriet Miers had considered ousting US Attorney Debra Yang. Yang left her government post, voluntarily, last fall. But why did Miers want her out? One reason is Rep. Jerry Lewis.

Here's the story from the Hill:

Miers weighed Yang’s firing according to Sen. Feinstein
By Susan Crabtree
April 24, 2007

Former White House Counsel Harriet Miers discussed firing ex-U.S. Attorney Debra Yang, who was leading an investigation into lucrative ties between Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) and a lobbying firm before she left her government post voluntarily last fall, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) charged in a hearing last week.

Feinstein has repeatedly questioned the circumstances surrounding Yang’s departure, but until last week she provided no reasons for her suspicions. Last Thursday, however, during the questioning of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales late in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Feinstein flatly stated that Miers had discussed “whether to remove Debra Yang from Los Angeles.”

A Feinstein spokesman indicated only that the senator had learned that Miers had considered ousting Yang “through interviews” and did not respond to repeated questions to elaborate. Andrew Koneschusky, a spokesman to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is leading the probe, also did not respond to questions about whether Miers had targeted Yang and any evidence Feinstein may have about it.

Yang resigned last October, months before Democrats began reviewing the Justice Department’s decision to fire eight other federal prosecutors. According to a report in the American Lawyer, she was lured away by a $1.5 million-plus offer to become a partner at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher LLP, which is defending Lewis in the probe.

Yang will co-chair the firm’s crisis-management practice group, along with Theodore B. Olson, the former solicitor general of the Bush administration who is now at the firm’s D.C. office. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Fuchs, Yang’s colleague at the Los Angeles U.S. attorney’s office, also has joined her at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher. Yang and Fuchs have recused themselves from working on Lewis’s defense.

Fuchs did not respond to The Hill’s queries. Yang responded by e-mail yesterday but gave no details, saying only she had been busy with work and had not followed Feinstein’s comments about Miers.

In an interview with The Hill last month, Yang dismissed questions about the timing of her departure, which occurred about a month before seven other U.S. attorneys were fired late last year. She argued that she left for personal reasons based on financial concerns and the fact that she is a single mother.

She said it had nothing to do with the firings of other U.S. federal
prosecutors. More here.

Another rock turned over and what will we find? Yang left for personal reasons, she said. But why did Miers have her on the firing list?

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!

Feinstein to Gonzales...Resign

A member of the Seante Judiciary, Senator Diane Feinstein, today, called for Alberto Gonzales to resign. Documents released Friday show that Gonzales DID participate in a meeting where the plans were disgussed even though the Attorney General said he was not involved im any discussions of the dismissals of the Federal Prosecutors.

More from the AP via SFGate:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein called Sunday for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, saying he'd lost her confidence and hadn't told her the truth.


Feinstein, D-Calif. and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had held off on calling for Gonzales to step down even as many leading Democrats and some Republicans did so in recent weeks.


"I believe he should step down. And I don't like saying this. This is not my natural personality at all," Feinstein said on Fox News Sunday. "But I think the nation is not well served by this. I think we need to get at the bottom of why these resignations were made, who ordered them, and what the strategy was."

"Attorney General Gonzales has the view that he serves two masters, that he serves the president and that he serves as the chief law enforcement officer," said Feinstein. "He serves one master, and that's the people of this country."


Feinstein is particularly concerned over the dismissal of former U.S. Attorney Carol Lam in San Diego who was fired while prosecuting a corruption case stemming from the conviction of jailed ex-GOP Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham.


Feinstein suspects a connection and highlighted her concerns about that and other aspects of the situation in a speech on the Senate floor in January. She also introduced legislation to undo a change in the Patriot Act allowing the administration to appoint U.S. attorneys without Senate confirmation. After that she got a call from Gonzales.


"You have to understand, he called me when I began to become involved in this," Feinstein said. "He told me I didn't know my facts, I didn't know what I was doing. It turns out he wasn't telling me the truth then, either."


A Justice Department spokesman did not immediately respond to an e-mail message seeking comment Sunday.

Of course Bush is still behind him 100%. Wonder what Gonzales has over Bush's head?