Chicago Tribune Editorial - Uncovering the truth

Chicago Tribune Editorial - Uncovering the truth
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published March 20, 2007

In the controversy over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, the Bush administration has made several serious mistakes. Even if you assume the eight were fired for the purest of reasons, the administration has done everything possible to convey the opposite impression.

The Justice Department erred in not explaining upfront, to the prosecutors and to Congress, why they were relieved. It erred again in claiming all were dismissed for unsatisfactory performance--when some of them had gotten good ratings from Justice. It erred when it claimed the White House had nothing to do with the dismissals, only to be forced to admit that then-White House counsel Harriet Miers and political adviser Karl Rove were involved in early discussions of the matter.

Now congressional committees want public testimony from Miers and Rove. It would be another blunder for the president to refuse.

The mishandling of the matter by the administration has done much to fuel the flames of suspicion, as even President Bush and some Republican senators have acknowledged. If the administration's errors were the result of bungling, the only way to undo the damage is to get all the information out, as quickly as possible. And if the president is not willing to facilitate that process, Congress and the American people will be entitled to conclude that he is afraid to let the truth be known.

Critics say the administration got rid of several of the prosecutors for crude political reasons. One whose dismissal has been called into question is Carol Lam of San Diego, who convicted Republican Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham of bribery and was investigating two of his associates when she was relieved.

The suspicions deepened after the discovery of an e-mail from Kyle Sampson, the attorney general's then-chief of staff, sent the day after Lam informed the Justice Department that she had obtained search warrants for those two associates. The next day, Sampson told the deputy White House counsel that because of "the real problem we have with Carol Lam ... we should have someone ready to be nominated on 11/18, the day her four-year term expires."

That same morning, The Los Angeles Times had reported that Lam was investigating two other Republicans, one a current House member and the other a former member. So it's easy to imagine a political motive for her firing. And the department's claim that it acted only because she didn't mount enough immigration and gun cases has yet to be convincingly substantiated.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has already approved subpoenas for several Justice Department officials. Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has threatened to force testimony by Miers and Rove if the president doesn't allow them to appear voluntarily, and ranking Republican Sen. Arlen Specter would support subpoenas if necessary--which could lead to a constitutional showdown if the president balked.

The dispute shouldn't come to that. It's time for the White House to cooperate with Congress in uncovering the whole truth.