Monica Goodling, White House liaison and senior counsel to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, testified under immunity that she violated federal law by applying political loyalty tests to career Justice Department positions. A 1999 graduate of Pat Robertson’s Regent University Law School, …
Bush administration Justice Department fires seven U.S. attorneys in coordinated operation later determined to be politically motivated retaliation. Fired prosecutors included David Iglesias (New Mexico), Carol Lam (California), Daniel Bogden (Nevada), Paul Charlton (Arizona), Margaret Chiara …
Karl RoveDavid IglesiasCarol LamAlberto GonzalesBush Administration+1 moredoj-weaponizationattorney-firingskarl-rovepolitical-prosecutionsbush-administration+2 more
The Bush administration fired 9 U.S. attorneys in an unprecedented midterm purge for what investigators determined were largely political reasons. Seven prosecutors were ordered to resign on December 7, 2006, including David Iglesias (New Mexico), Carol Lam (Southern California), and John McKay …
Alberto GonzalesKarl RoveDavid IglesiasCarol LamGeorge W. Bush+1 moreobstruction-of-justicepolitical-prosecutiondojgonzalesauthoritarianism
The Justice Department’s torture authorization memo represents the institutional culmination of WHIG’s constitutional crisis precedent establishment, demonstrating how systematic executive deception creates legal frameworks enabling executive immunity from constitutional constraints and …
John YooJay BybeeAlberto GonzalesWhite House Iraq GroupDepartment of Justice+5 morewhigconstitutional-crisis-precedentsexecutive-immunity-precedenttorture-authorizationrule-of-law-suspension+4 more
Alberto Gonzales and Chief of Staff Andy Card went to George Washington Hospital ICU to pressure hospitalized Attorney General John Ashcroft to reauthorize the NSA surveillance program that the Department of Justice had deemed illegal. Acting Attorney General James Comey raced to the hospital with …
John AshcroftJames ComeyAlberto GonzalesAndy CardRobert Muellerrule-of-lawexecutive-powersurveillancestellarwindconstitutional-crisis+5 more
President George W. Bush signed a secret executive order authorizing the National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct warrantless surveillance of American citizens’ communications, codenamed ‘Stellar Wind’. This program systematically bypassed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance …
George W. BushMichael HaydenNSAAlberto GonzalesJack Goldsmith+1 morepermanent-constitutional-transformationconstitutional-bypass-mechanismssystematic-accountability-destructionstellar-windexecutive-immunity-infrastructure+6 more
President George W. Bush authorized the NSA’s Stellar Wind warrantless domestic surveillance program, completely bypassing FISA court oversight in a fundamental alteration of constitutional checks and balances. The program allowed the NSA to collect phone metadata and internet communications …
George W. BushMichael HaydenNSADick CheneyDavid Addington+3 moresurveillancensastellar-windfisa-bypassconstitutional-crisis+3 more