President Turns to an Insider to Negotiate on Dismissals Fred F. Fielding, the new White House counsel, turned up Wednesday afternoon on Capitol Hill. He had come to negotiate with Democrats, who are investigating whether politics played a role in the dismissal of eight federal prosecutors and demanding testimony from Karl Rove and other top aides to President Bush. But Mr. Fieldingâs real task is even bigger and more delicate: to serve as the point man for the White House as it decides the future of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, a longtime Texas friend and confidant of Mr. Bush.” (New York Times)Shaikh Mohammed Confessions May Aid Other Qaeda Defendants “The admissions made by the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks illuminated and transformed the cases against him and the 13 other Qaeda leaders transferred last year from C.I.A. prisons to the Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. His statement, released on Wednesday by the Pentagon, may complicate the prosecution of his former colleagues.” (New York Times)
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=181270