MTP Transcript for Mar. 25, 2007

MR. IGLESIAS: That’s a great question, and I think that’s something that has to be figured out in the scrum between the Justice Department, the White House and Capitol Hill.

MR. RUSSERT: Mr. McKay, do you have confidence in the leadership and integrity of the current attorney general?

MR. McKAY: I think his status is something that’s going to have to be decided by the president and the attorney general. I, I think that there is, as I said, a cloud over the Justice Department, and that is just going to have to be removed.

MR. RUSSERT: What has this done to you in your career, Mr. McKay?

MR. McKAY: Well, I’m going to be fine. I’m, I’m teaching law at Seattle University law school. I had a tremendous five-year run as United States attorney in Seattle. I worked with talented men and women. And, and, Tim, I want to emphasize, these are people who guard their prosecutorial independence very, very jealously. It was a tremendous opportunity for me to serve the country, and I’m very, very grateful for it.

MR. RUSSERT: What has this done for you, Mr. Iglesias?

MR. IGLESIAS: It, it—it’s really hard to say. I’m currently not working. I’ll be taking some time off. Long term, I don’t know. I, I do know that our checks and balances is something that we all learn about in fifth grade civics class. I’m seeing that in play right now. I’m seeing Congress exercising oversight role in a way that’s been absent for six years. I think, ultimately, things’ll work out fine for all of us, but right now it is very troubling to, to see the politicization of the Justice Department.

MR. RUSSERT: When all this started coming down, you e-mailed the chief of staff of the attorney general, seeking his help, in effect.

MR. IGLESIAS: I did.

MR. RUSSERT: You wrote, “Kyle: Hope you’re doing well in this new year. I [was] wondering if you could ask the judge”—Judge Gonzalez, the attorney general—“if I can list him as a reference?” And then the next day, you wrote, “I was asked to resign. I asked (why) and wasn’t given any answers. I ultimately am OK with that. We all take these jobs knowing we serve at the pleasure of the president.” And then you wrote the deputy attorney general, Paul McNulty, “Would you mind if I list you as a reference? Again,” thank you “for your support and prayers. Regards, David. Proberbs 19:25.”

MR. IGLESIAS: Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: Why were you asking for recommendations for people who you felt had not handled you in a professional way?

MR. IGLESIAS: For the simple reason I wanted to know if the true reason was performance, as stated under oath, or if it was politics. And I figured, very simply, that, if it was performance-related, they would not agree to be listed as a reference. That simple.

MR. RUSSERT: And they both agreed to be references.

MR. IGLESIAS: They did. Yes, sir.

MR. RUSSERT: Proverbs 19:25, it caught my attention and I went to the good book and looked it up. “Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge.”

Explain why you cited that Proverbs.

MR. IGLESIAS: It’s interesting that you would pick that up. Actually, that’s a typo. I meant to say Proverbs 19:21, which is “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it’s the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” In other words, all this mess may seem chaotic and without reason, but ultimately there’s a bigger plan, there’s a providential plan. So I meant to put Proverbs 19:21, not Proverbs 19:25.

MR. RUSSERT: Mr. McKay, if you were on the Senate Judiciary Committee and the attorney general was before you next week, what would you ask him?

MR. McKAY: Well, I think it’s important that the attorney general of the United States understand that his job is not simply to serve as a—as a member of the Cabinet of the president or as a close adviser to the president, but rather to lead a, a very important independent function in the government, and that is the immense power wielded by the prosecutorial capacity of the federal government. I think that the culture of the Justice Department, the tradition of leadership at the Justice Department in almost every case has been that that individual understands their role is distinct from that of the White House. That’s not the impression that the attorney general has given to the people of the United States, and, and I think that, that those questions probably are going to come if he does appear before either the House or Senate judiciary committees.

MR. RUSSERT: What question would you ask the attorney general?

MR. IGLESIAS: I’d want to know if he agrees with the findings of the Congressional Research Service that found that, in the past 25 years, out of 468 U.S. attorneys confirmed by the Senate only 10 left involuntarily. Whether or not he regards what happened to us in December to be a break from the past, and, if so, was it justified. Of those 10, virtually every one of those was due to misconduct. So, in my view, this represents a tremendous departure from historical practice. How does he justify that? That’s a question I would want to know.

MR. RUSSERT: All eight of you were appointed by President Bush.

MR. IGLESIAS: We were.

MR. RUSSERT: You’re all Republicans.

MR. IGLESIAS: We a—I think two are independents, but the rest of us are Republicans.

MR. RUSSERT: And to this day, do you believe you were removed for political reasons?

MR. IGLESIAS: Absolutely, yes.

MR. RUSSERT: Mr. McKay, what have you learned from all this?

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