One Day, One Resignation
Woo hoo! I’ve barely left the country, and already we’ve got our first sacking: that of Lurita Doan.
Dear Friends and Colleagues at GSA,
Early this evening I was asked to submit my resignation, and I have just done so. It has been a great privilege to serve with all of you and to serve our nation and a great President.
The past twenty-two months have been filled with accomplishments: together, we have regained our clean audit opinion, restored fiscal discipline, re-tooled our ability to respond to emergencies, rekindled entrepreneurial energies, reduced bureaucratic barriers to small companies to get a GSA Schedule, ignited a building boom at our nation’s ports of entries, boldly led the nation in an aggressive telework initiative, and improved employee morale so that we were selected as one of the best places to work in the Federal government.
These accomplishments are made even more enjoyable by the fact that there were lots of people who told us they could never be done.
Best of luck to all of you, it has been a true honor.
The question is, why now?
As you’ll recall, almost a year ago, Scott Bloch recommended that George Bush fire Doan. Bloch had determined that Doan had violated the Hatch Act, but since Doan is was an agency head, only Bush could fire her.
And given the amount of time that has passed since then, it appears Bush didn’t think the wholesale politicization of the GSA was a firing offense (go figure).
So if violating the Hatch Act doesn’t merit firing, what does?
Watch this SJC hearing:
http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicR…..ring.htm#3
Feingold and Whitehouse on danger of Secret laws.
oops bad link. This is it:
Senate Judiciary Hearing on Secret Law
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=3305
You’re right this is a good hearing
It’s on CSPAN 3 in replay now. I’m impressed by Prof. Dawn Johnsen, one of the panelists. I wonder if Jane knows her. They have common political interests.
Rivkin’s on the panel. I never been impressed with him and my legal expertise in minimal. I was IT Director in large private law firms for twelve years. Still some of the stuff that comes out of his mouth makes my head turn.
wherein Whitehouse explains “Pixie Dust”
Indeed, yes.
Not a moment too soon.
I’m going to watch the whole thing from the beginning if I can find it in the c-span archives or DVR it if I can find the rebroadcast schedule.
I must say, spending time here with emptywheelers has sharpened my ear for reason and rhetoric.
I’ll post the link here to the video of the hearing when I find it.
Shit. Really?
Rivkin is a dogmatic tool asshole idiot. Not necessarily in that order….. to the best of my knowledge, he has always been totally devoted to PR, lobbying and political stuff rather than being an actual working lawyer. I think he would soil his pants if he had to actually do a jury trial.
Wow, Rivkin’s opening statement was all about: 9/11, war, enemies… what a fearmonger. Yeesh…!
Wm Leonard was a real breath of fresh air; good to hear such minds speaking up in animated, clear fashion.
Perhaps it was sentence structure like this:
Looks like a firing offense to me.
Goodbye, Ms. Chips Ahoy!
Well, she has plenty of time to enjoy them now…
And pardon my bad manners, but the hearing is hot. Have a great trip!!!
So how far does Marcy have to travel to get Rice fired. Mars?
So…would Pluto get us impeachment?
I’d be surprised Disney would let him do that… ;-))
The question of the day to answer.
I imagine Marcy is “out the door” as I write this.
Who do we send tips to while you are gone? I tripped across something a bit questionable and want to pass it on in light of some recent news about generals and war PR.
Maybe she did something ethical.
Hi Marcy. I thought the same thing. News reports said she was forced out. Forced out by whom? For what reason? I’m glad she’s out but there’s not enough detail.
That’s kind of their strong suit…there’s never enough detail.
Let’s start a collection for a trip to pluto…I have never wanted anything more than impeachment for this administration…the fact that anyone refers to this pres in any legitimate way, boils my blood.
Helloooooo. He’s naked, drunk with power, and destroying our country…
That’s my new slogan “Whatever it takes”. (’course Marcy may not go for a trip to pluto…and I wouldn’t want to live without her posts for that long.)
We’d have to get the Interplanetary Internet working first…
“So if violating the Hatch Act doesn’t merit firing, what does? “
This is rhetorical, right? Um…. Impartial prosecution of the law?
Based on past performance, the most likely answer (to why now) is a criminal indictment.
I had a similar thought.
BTW: could Doan/GSA tie in to any of the Mitchell Wade, Cunningham, or other investigations…? [Honest question: I don’t understand the GSA, so don’t know whether it overlaps Congressional corruption.) Doesn’t resigning mean that Doan is no longer covered by Exec Privilege?
The odds that Doan actually wrote that ‘resignation email’ on her own are probably 1:10,000. There’s a huge ‘cognitive disconnect’ between that email and her verbal style. Wonder who really wrote that email…?
Also wonder whether feeding Doan to the sharks is part of a diversion to keep the press from sleuthing into plans for Bombing Certain Other Nations?
Nope doesn’t affect application of executive privilege if there was any privilege to begin with (and I am not sure there was ever any basis, nor claim, in this regard). Also, I don’t think she is a big enough fish to be a diversion play for anything. Something is likely up, but i doubt it is either of those two things.
Okay, thanks for the explanation!
Per WmOckham @21:
Didn’t EW recently post something about a dustup over legislation related to the role, scope, and authority of IGs? Wonder whether that dustup was connected to Doan’s activities…?
It’s not related to her sacking, but the law does address one of the problems Doan caused: she was trying to cut her IG’s budget and thereby force him to stop hounding her. The new law will give the IG’s a measure of budgetary independence.
Helpful info.
Thx!
Personally, I’d be amused to hear the opinion of actual GSA employees on that list of “accomplishments.” And since she only took over in May 2006, it’d be interesting to know whether those “re”’s (restore, regain) and improvements, if accurate, were relative to the 2000, or just cleaning up after the Bushie who preceded her.
(I’m betting that “improved employee morale so that we were selected as one of the best places to work in the Federal government,” for one, isn’t an “improvement” relative to the Clinton Administration.)
“Helloooo he’s naked, drunk with power and distroying our country”
That is good can I use it?
We may very well see a resignation a day while you’re gone.
In addition to a criminal indictment or ‘being forced out,’ it could also be a Defensive Move by Bush to keep her under his Executive Privilege umbrella.
IIRC, there is no real penalty for a Hatch Act violation, but she could be investigated and questioned as part of a Related Criminal Investigation if she were still in Bush’s Administration.
So, for instance, she could have gotten roped into the Siegelman Investigation through Rove – her PowerPoint Partner in Crime – and now Bush needs her to pull a Harriet and drop off the face of the planet…
There could be many, many Bushco minions with documented ‘Not Following the Law’ problems who get the ‘Time to Resign’ phone call from Smirky.
Good question. It superficially gives Bush, and hence, McCain, an aura of “responsible house cleaning”, though even associating the actors and the act automatically triggers my gag reflex. Like Bush claiming his commitment to fiscal responsibility required him to veto the SCHIP bill twice. Hence, the Deciderer demanded her resignation, a command decision reminiscent of someone taking his keys only after he smashed his car into a tree.
It may be that Doan finally put together her post-government career plan. They’ve held on to her too long for it not to include the usual WingNut Welfare, a job, contracts, business referrals, ad nauseum. Let’s follow her and see where she goes.
Perhaps Waxman or a colleague was threatening to pursue the matter publicly and before the election, convincing an adviser finally to persuade the Bush lion to allow that thorn to be pulled from his paw. That would suggest even more dirt would have come out, but for the firing and attempted spiking of an investigation. Wonder where the GSA’s IG fits into all this, the one Doan tried to nobble.
Maybe Doan finally cleaned up the most obvious parts of her dirty paper trail and could leave, or her continued incompetence was about to expose them to another scandal. Whatever the reason, it was not because the Bushies placed competence over loyalty; we won’t see that until the sun rises in the west.
Eh, I dunno. As we know, there are no criminal penalties for the Hatch Act violations, which is what we really have on Doan; unless Waxman was shaking something loose on the theft/fraud front EW discussed here. Doan was a completely functional Bushco tool, and clearly the Hatch Act problems did not bother them, so you would think it is something additional.
RFW – Having a governmental employee out of office never strengthens the President’s ability to claim executive privilege. It really doesn’t affect it particularly, but if it did, it would be to weaken it. So, it is not that.
bmaz, while EW is away, do we still send tips to her gmail account or do you have another suggestion?
bmaz22 at gmail dot com will find your tip a home.
Thanks, sent.
You’re right, of course. I was just trying to give Lurita the benefit of the same Super Protection Powers that Harriet and Josh and Karl all get!
How they manage to dodge Subpoenaes from Congress is beyond me, but they are all out of the Administration while they’re doing it.
My perception is that – whatever ‘device’ is actually being disengenuously used by Bush to ‘cloak’ his Minion Implementers and Enablers from Testifying Truthfully in Congressional Proceedings – it seems like a gross abuse of Executive Privilege.
A ‘magic’ wand, even, that prevents them from Telling the Whole Truth of their Witness – on Bush’s Orders – over Judicial Process.
One thing we can probably be certain that didn’t bring her down was an above-board Ethics investigation involving Republicans…
Josh has already pointed out that she didn’t get sacked on a Friday night, which is eyebrow-raising by itself. Then she sent out a “Leak Me!” e-mail (which said flat-out that she was asked to resign–she didn’t even bother with the usual “more time with my family” tripe) to ensure that she got mid-week coverage. Something’s definitely up.
I did a little research and found that Doan recently (last week) lost her long-running battle with the GSA IG. In the course of that fracas, she managed to insult a bunch of people, including the Asst. Dir. of the FBI’s Criminal Division (who chairs the committe that investigates IGs). I think the WH may have just gotten tired of her unwillingness to give up on her attacks against the GSA IG.
Here’s the link I meant to include. Check out the related stories for all the luri(ta)d details.
Isn’t that attribute usually a prerequisite for a job with Bush? Mr. Cheney is doubling down on his version of that with Congress.
Clearly, they were waiting for emptywheel to leave the country before firing Doan. Now that she’s posted, theyll wait several days before getting rid of the rest of the people she’s written about. I can’t wait to hear David Addington’s and Dick Cheney’s responses…
I don’t know if I can find a link, and I’ll try later but I saw the hearing before Waxman’s Committee that is Always Hijacked, Obstructed and Completely derailed by Tom Davis, Ranking Member and I’ve never seen a more arrogant, obstinate “fuck you in your face” appearance by anyone than the one by Lurita Doan who bought her way into office literally. Hopefully she’s out because she’s about to be indicted.
PetePierce @ 28
The Gavel has a pretty good page of clips from that cringe-inducing performance last year. For arrogance and obstinacy and sheer rudeness, I thought that Sara Taylor gave Doan a run for her money, but they were both pretty breathtaking.
Let’s not forget dear Alvin, he won the “arrogant and petulant” award according to me …
Thanks very much for that link. That hearing made my blood boil. I was used to Davis’ obstruction while Chairman and since he became ranking, but I never saw more petty obstinate defiance to the obvious. I’d love to see her hauled into court on her blatant Hatch Act violations, take the stand, and perform like that on cross.
Can’t happen. There are no criminal or civil penalty processes for Hatch Act violations; report suggesting the President terminate is basically it.
Why not 18 U.S.C. §§ 210, 211, 594, 595, 600, 601, 602, 603, 604, 605, 606, 607, 610?
You may have commented on this story (not very surprising) from Monday’s NYT:
Lawyers Fear Monitoring in Cases on Terrorism
Not that particular story, but it has been pretty much a consistent established fact since 9/11; actually prior to that in relation to the Blind Shiek case in regards to Lynne Stewart and Ron Kuby. My guess is that contrary to prior to 9/11, when it was done, but rarely; since 9/11 it is done in every case. You might be surprised, but there is a legal way to do it if there is probable cause to believe there is collusion between the lawyer and client on a criminal/terror matter. Problem is that the Bushies think that any conversation between lawyer and any alleged terror suspect qualifies. I, ahem, do not agree with that…..
You’re right there and that was the gov. assertion with Lynn Stewart of course and the more I read about her case, the less I understood a) whether she was guilty b) why she would have put herself in that position given her body of experience litigating with the feds for years. I was getting at the confirmation in the article that the government accidentally screwed up and gave to the defense with the rest of the discovery in the case that doesn’t suprise any of us at all where clearly the government has no justification to expect every attorney (and some the best and brightest) who are undertaking defense of terror defendants.
Given Doan’s “help our candidates” attitude, her saying GSA “ignited a building boom at our nation’s ports of entries” should be investigated for cronyism. What building boom? Where? Name a project. What company received the contract?
Why fire her now?
How much time did she need to crush hard drives and shred documents? How much time did she need write letters for her cronies who would need jobs after acting as her accomplices and then disappear from government service? What does GAO monitor, record and report about anyway?
WmOckham and others interested, the WaIndependent has more: http://www.washingtonindepende…..-gsas-head
Federal agency heads calling IG’s ‘terrorists’.
My, oh my…
If the resignation of corrupt BushCo grifters is the result of your travel plans, then honest to God I wish you’d go away more often.
A paucity of information:
re: Alice Fisher. ‘Two Days, Two Resignations’.
This is spooky.
Why now?
If you review the track record of the terrorist prosecutions that Fischer oversaw, DOJ lost the vast majority of them with infinite resources as to funding and personnel despite the fact that they have been illegaly wiretapping communications between defendants and counsel.
Both USC and CFR are very clear on client attorney communications, this but Rule of Law and DOJ (a pure oxymoron of a name–should be the DOI Department of Injustice) have had no common ground for years.
SECRET LAW HEARING – C SPAN VIDEO
Neil, wow… I’m a huge FlashPlayer fan anyway, but I can’t get over **how** smoothly the feed at that link you provided is working via the FlashPlayer option on my machine. The start/stop and pull-along-the-timeline video controller functions are working like a dream. (Beats heck out of the audio-only feed.)
Loo Hoo really needs this setup.
Thank you for that link.
If anyone else has problems with that link, I’d highly recommend clicking on the FlashPlayer icon (the round red ball with ‘F’ in the middle). Amazingly excellent feed…
(Time to hop on the stationary cycle and watch it…)
bmaz – You’re right! It’s not looking like an executive privilege issue with Lurita – instead, it looks like she’s getting thrown to the dogs. I’ll bet Fox shows her as a ‘D’ on the crawl tomorrow, too.
Here’s the NYT:
White House Forces Out G.S.A. Chief by David Stout
(snip)
Much of the criticism of Ms. Doan came after it became known that on Jan. 26, 2007, a deputy to Karl Rove, then President Bush’s chief political adviser, gave a briefing to employees of her agency that identified Congressional Democrats the Republicans hoped to unseat in 2008, as well as Republican incumbents who seemed vulnerable.
Several people at that meeting said later that Ms. Doan had asked how her agency could be used “to help our candidates.” Ms. Doan said she did not remember making that remark.
(snip)
Ms. Doan became administrator on May 31, 2006. Before taking the job, she led New Technology Management, a surveillance-technology company she founded in 1990. The company has become a major contractor for the Department of Homeland Security.
—
Yes indeedy, Lurita “No Shoulders” Doan was Bush’s watchful eye against Fraud, Waste and Abuse in his “Restore Integrity to the White House” Administration. Her operative motto could have been, “You can’t be too vigilant when looking for Snakes in Suits.”
Well, with all the opportunity she had to ‘influence’ the action at GSA, she could very well have stepped on any number of ethical rakes…looking for those ‘Snakes.’
Reportedly, Robert Coughlin, who is former DoJ criminal division deputy chief of staff for Alice Fisher, last week filed and Judge Ellen Huvelle accepted, a guilty plea to conflict of interest charges for his work gifting and fundraising with Abramoff. As both DOJ’s public integrity section and the WA-DC US atty have recused, Baltimore Deputy US atty Stuart Goldberg is managing the case against Coughlin. The linked article says DoJ is mum about the process it used to select the Baltimore USAtty’s office to sub for the recused DC USAtty and the PublicIntegrity section, but sugggests associates involved in the matter may be at DoJ yet.
Most interesting speculation I have heard yet JLo. Fisher is definitely a piece of work; and there has long been a strong argument that there should have been far more results out of the Abramoff cooperation than have occurred. If this turns out to even partially be the reason regarding fisher, that would be huge.
Well, to add one more twist to the weirdness, my midday newz check turned up two items at TPM that are perhaps tangential here:
1. Palfrey (DC Madam) reportedly committed suicide. It’s evident from a glance down the comments page over there that some TPM commenters are skeptical she took her own life
2. One of Abramoff’s young lieutenants at Greenberg Traurig was all giddy about some lobbying deal that required DoJ approval (netting Abramoff wanna be $14million or so). His buddy emailed him to the effect, “Hey, let those DoJers have all the massages and whores they want.”
No clue whether Abramoff’s ‘clients’ were being ’serviced’ by Palfrey’s outfit; or whether Palfrey left anything behind to nail the details. But all these things do seem to coalesce strangely at the present moment.
Clarification: Abramoff’s lieutenant didn’t make the $14m+; he was only the conduit.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpoi…..nk_you.php
Also at: http://www.law.com/jsp/article…..9114346968