The Muckraker's Reference Section
William Moschella
William Moschella was the Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department until his promotion to Principle Associate Deputy Attorney General on October 2, 2006.
Moschella was directly involved in making changes to the Patriot Act that allowed interim US Attorneys to serve indefinitely. He also listened to complaints from prominent Republicans against particular attorneys. In March of 2007, Moschella testified to Congress that US attorneys were fired for performance reasons, and that the White House played no role in the firings until the very end of the process.
Key Points:
Moschella pushed for changes to the Patriot Act.
On December 15, 2005, the Patriot Act came out of committee with a new provision that allowed the Attorney General to appoint interim US attorneys for an indefinite period and without Senate confirmation. Moschella played an instigating role in changing the legislation.
Moschella has told McClatchy that he acted alone, pursuing the changes without consulting officials in the Justice Department or the White House. However, an email from November 11, 2005 shows that Moschella suggested the change to Justice officials, including director of the Executive Office for US Attorneys Michael Battle. Moschella wrote, “we support eliminating the court’s role in appointing interim US Attorneys, “and believe the AG should have that authority alone.”
Moschella heard complaints against David Iglesias from Republican lawmakers.
Moschella is listed as taking part in three phone calls with Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM). In these conversations, Senator Domenici called to voice concerns with the current US Attorney David Iglesias (NM). Moschella is listed as participating in calls on September 23, 2005, January 31, 2006, and April 4, 2006.
Moschella falsely testified to Congress.
On March 6, 2007, Moschella testified to the House Judiciary Committee. He testified that all US attorneys were fired for performance-related reasons, although he acknowledged that none of the attorneys were originally told why they had been fired. He enumerated the complaints for each particular attorney. These claims have been contradicted as further information has come to light.
Moschella also testified that the White House had no involvement in the firings of US Attorneys. As emails were published demonstrating the extensive involvement of key White House officials, Moschella said he "felt sick” and suggested that Kyle Sampson had never mentioned the White House’s involvement during Moschella’s testimonial briefing
Research by Will Thomas
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