Daniel Bogden update

Former George Bush aide Karl Rove last week spent some time being questioned by federal prosecutor Nora Dannehy on his role, if any, in the firings of nine U.S. Attorneys—including Nevada’s Daniel Bogden—during the Bush administration.

Rove, a former Sparks resident, has dodged every prosecutorial bullet sent his way for the last eight years.

While there have been explanations or educated suppositions about the reasons for eight of the U.S. Attorneys, reasons for Bogden’s firing have always been a bit of a mystery. Highly praised by his Justice Department colleagues, Bogden has heard rumors of half a dozen reasons, but nothing solid (“Keeping the lines straight,” RN&R, April 5, 2007).

A lengthy investigation of the firings by two Justice Department agencies was, in Bogden’s case, stymied by the refusal of Bush White House officials to be questioned or to turn over documents. The final report read that investigators “could not determine who was responsible for Bogden’s name being placed on the U.S. Attorney removal list.” The Atlantic commented, “His firing, if the accounts of senior DOJ officials responsible for terminating him are to be believed, was one of Immaculate Conception.”

Nevada’s two U.S. senators have slated Bogden for reappointment to the state’s U.S. Attorney post by President Obama.