Controversy Over Dismissal
| Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy ( ) |
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| G. W. Bush administration officials involved |
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| Involved administration officials who resigned |
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| U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary 110th Congress |
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| U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary 110th Congress |
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Cummins received national attention when he was dismissed by US Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez despite having received positive job reviews. Cummins was informed in June 2006 that his resignation would be desired, and as part of the transition, his replacement, Tim Griffin, worked for Cummins' office as a special assistant United States attorney from September 2006 onward. Cummins resigned effective December 20, 2006. He has been called "one of the most distinguished lawyers in Arkansas".
Early in the Congressional investigations of the firings, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty testified that Cummins was removed for no reason except to install a former aide to Karl Rove: 37-year-old Timothy Griffin, a former Republican National Committee opposition research director. Cummins, apparently, "was ousted after Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel, intervened on behalf of Griffin." In fact, White House emails uncovered during investigations showed that Griffin laid the groundwork for the dismissal of Cummins, telling staff members in the White House that Cummins was widely seen by members of the Arkansas bar as "lazy" and "ineffective." Sara Taylor and Scott Jennings later testified that they believed Cummins to be a subpar incumbent, based solely on statements made by Griffin. Cummins told the Senate Judiciary Committee "that Mike Elston, the deputy attorney general's top aide, threatened him with retaliation in a phone call if he went public." Emails show that Cummins passed on the warning to some of the other Attorneys who were fired.
Reportedly Monica Goodling, who formerly worked for Tim Griffin at the Republican National Committee, "took a leading role in making sure that Tim Griffin, a protege of presidential adviser Karl Rove, replaced H.E. "Bud" Cummins as the U.S. attorney in Arkansas. Documents released to Congress include communications between Goodling and Scott Jennings, Rove's deputy."
Cummins answered a House Judiciary Committee interrogatory about the experience:
| “ | ...On the other hand, as long as the President who appointed you was in office, there was no precedent for removal of you absent misconduct even after the four year mark came and went. Dismissal for misconduct had occurred in a very few cases of obvious misconduct, i.e. political activities within the office, assaulting a woman, etc. Of course, many USA’s leave short of two terms to become judges or return to private practice. | ” |
Read more about this topic: Bud Cummins
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