by emptywheel

According to Jill Simpson's testimony, in January or February of 2005, Karl Rove met with the head of Public Integrity at DOJ and got him to assign resources to the Don Siegelman case.

A And so, anyway, he was telling me all of the things that Alice had done as far as having messed up the deal. And then I -- and that since she had messed it up, he was definitely running, you know what -- I mean -- and then he proceeds to tell me that Bill Canary and Bob Riley had had a conversation with Karl Rove again and that they had this time gone over and seen whoever was the head of the department of -- he called it PIS, which I don't think that

is the correct acronym, but that's what he called it. And I had to say what is that and he said that is the Public Integrity Section. [snip] Q Okay. And who -- when you say they had made a decision, who are you thinking of? A Whoever that head of that Public Integrity -- the PIS was as Rob referred to it. And then whoever -- and Karl Rove. Q And what -- well, from talking to Rob, this conversation you're describing for me was in late January, early February 2005? A That is correct. [snip] Q Okay. And did Rob give you the name of the person at -- I'm just going to call it Public Integrity -- that he thought he understood Karl Rove had spoken to? A No, he said it was the head guy there and he said that that guy had agreed to allocate whatever resources, so evidently the guy had the power to allocate resources, you know. Q To the Siegelman prosecution? A Yes. And that he'd allocate all resources necessary.

Set aside the Siegelman case for a second. If Simpson's testimony is truthful, it means Karl Rove had significant sway over the Public Integrity Section at DOJ in early 2005. The Abramoff investigation was in full swing. As was the CIA Leak investigation. Both of which Rove was personally implicated in.

At the time, Noel Hillman was head of PIN. Hillman stepped down in January 2006--just weeks after Abramoff's guilty plea on January 3 and a time when the White House was increasingly the focus of the Abramoff investigation--to become a Federal judge. At the time, the move was viewed with a great deal of suspicion.

The administration said that the appointment was routine and that it would not affect the investigation, but Democrats swiftly questioned the timing of the move and called for a special prosecutor. [snip] The White House, which announced Mr. Bush's selection of Mr. Hillman for the court in a routine e-mail message on Wednesday that included 15 other nominations to judgeships and federal jobs, dismissed the calls for a special prosecutor. "It's nothing but pure politics," said Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary. "The Justice Department is holding Mr. Abramoff to account, and the career Justice prosecutors are continuing to fully investigate the matter."

And of course, from external appearances, the investigation veered away from most Congressmen, not to mention the White House, until Alberto Gonzales lost control of his DOJ this spring.

Simpson's allegation is tremendously damning with regards to the Siegelman case. But it is potentially even more damning with regards to a number of other investigations that were floating through PIN at the same time.