Just because someone in the Bush administration doesn't mean it's true -- even if that Bush administration official is under oath:
A Justice Department e-mail released today shows that the former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales proposed replacement candidates for seven United States attorneys nearly a year before those prosecutors were fired, in contrast to testimony last month in which the aide said that no successors were considered before the firings.Now, again, reporters won't say that Sampson lied. But, we will. He lied. He lied under oath.
The e-mail written by D. Kyle Sampson, who resigned last month as the top aide to Mr. Gonzales, provides the first evidence that the Justice Department wanted to appoint its own candidates, despite the insistence of Justice Department officials in recent weeks that the eight prosecutors, with one exception, were removed in December 2006 for performance reasons, without regard to who might succeed them.
So, to the media: you're now seeing that Bush officials routinely lie. They lie even when sworn to tell the truth. That means they've been lying to you, too. Just an FYI.
