The Political Chase

More Scandal in Attorney Purging

There is more to add to the U.S. attorney purge scandal according to a New York Times report from Friday. Debra Wong Yang, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles was not fired, but resigned in October 2006 “for personal reasons” that are highly suspicious. Ms. Yang, similar to other U.S. attorneys terminations or resignations in December, was pursuing a high profile investigation of Rep. Jerry Lewis, (R-CA), the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee at the time. Interestingly enough, Alberto Gonzales deemed her as “one of the most respected U.S. attorneys in the country” and appointed her to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee; however the White House was focused on obtaining her resignation.

Kyle Sampson has testified in secret testimony to Congress that “Harriet Miers had asked him than once about Ms. Yang…[and] wanted to know whether Ms. Yang could be made to resign.” According to the Times report, Harriet Miers, then White House Counsel, was focused primarily on Ms. Yang and Bud Cummins, the Arkansas attorney fired to make room for Karl Rove’s protégé. Yang finally resigned, but it wasn’t a hard fall. She landed a job that included a $1.5 million signing bonus at high-profile firm with White House connections.

Okay, so what do we have here: Yang is investigating the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee; the White House Counsel is more than focused on Yang’s resignation who has performed well according to Gonzales, and she immediately becomes a millionaire by going to work for a high-profile firm that is well connected. The Times review of the circumstances:

The new job that Ms. Yang landed raised more red flags. Press reports say she got a $1.5 million signing bonus to become a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a firm with strong Republican ties. She was hired to be co-leader of the Crisis Management Practice Group with Theodore Olson, who was President Bush’s solicitor general and his Supreme Court lawyer in Bush v. Gore. Gibson, Dunn was defending Mr. Lewis in Ms. Yang’s investigation.

Several issues bear investigating. First, did Ms. Yang know or suspect that she might lose her job, and jump ship to avoid being fired? That is not hard to believe because Ms. Miers and Mr. Sampson were exchanging e-mail about dismissing her in mid-September, and she announced her departure in October. Ms. Yang served on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, which Mr. Gonzales has called “a small group of U.S. attorneys that I consult on policy matters.” That may have put her in a position to be tipped off in advance.

A second possibility is that Gibson, Dunn dangled a rich financial package before Ms. Yang to get her out, and to disrupt the investigation of Mr. Lewis. Ms. Yang, who says she left her job purely for personal reasons, may not have known she was being lured away by people with close ties to Mr. Lewis and the White House, who were hoping to replace her with a more partisan prosecutor.

Another possibility is that the timing of her departure was coincidental. That would make her lucky indeed: after more than 15 years of working for government, she decided to take a private sector job precisely when the White House counsel was apparently trying to fire her.

Think about it. Yang puts $1.5 million in her pocket and secure employment with a notable firm. The other eight attorneys did not have the same immediate good fortune. Their knowledge base must not have been quite as deep as Ms. Yang’s.