The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

(Page 2 of 3)

"What's interesting is that when you look at the e-mail traffic from [former Gonzales chief of staff] Kyle Sampson on the plans to remove some U.S. Attorneys, McNulty is cc'd on a few of them. He clearly knew what was going on," says a Republican Senate Judiciary staffer. "We wonder why the media is giving him a break."

Besides Sampson, some who weren't given a break, and should have been, are senior Gonzales aide Monica Goodling and EOUSA director and former U.S. Attorney Michael Battle.

"There is not a single bit of evidence, not even a whiff, that any of them did anything illegal, improper or even wrong," says a Democrat staffer on the House Judiciary Committee, who knows Sampson and Goodling. "We feel bad for them that they're caught up in a political pile-on. You'd think the White House or Gonzales would give them some support."

Lost in the fog of battle is that Sampson walked the White House away from the notion of asking all 93 U.S. Attorneys to submit their resignations. While Goodling appears to have done nothing more than find -- at the request of the White House and the Attorney General's office -- a transition post for U.S. Attorney designate Tim Griffin, and to meet with New Mexico Republican Party officials on a matter she was not informed of in advance, according to e-mail released by the House Judiciary Committee.

p> HIGH NOONAN br> Former Governor Mitt Romney , who insists he is a Reagan Republican, is attempting to further burnish that self-imposed mantle by hiring former Reagan Administration speechwriter Peggy Noonan , according to campaign insiders. /p>

Noonan, according to Romney sources, has spent time in Boston with Romney, and around the time of such a meeting published a column in the Wall Street Journal examining one of Romney's chief rivals for the Republican nomination, Sen. John McCain.

Noonan and Romney haven't discussed a job, according to the sources. Thus far, it has been Romney ruminating about the need to bulk up on talent in every area. "We don't know if Noonan is interested, but we're interested in her," says a fundraiser with ties to the Romney camp. "I heard the meeting went well."

The Noonan hire would be but another shakeup in Romney's ranks in the past few weeks. Already, Romney has adjusted his national field operations, as well as his finance team. There is also talk that the campaign is attempting to tweak its policy positions, holding brainstorming sessions in Washington last week with a diverse group of lobbyists and former Bush and Reagan Administration staffers.

topics:
Business, Law