Sara Taylor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dismissal of U.S. Attorneys Controversy ( v • d • e )
Articles
Administration Officials Involved
Involved Administration Officials that Resigned
U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary

Sara Marie Taylor (born September 15, 1974 in Dubuque, Iowa) was Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs at the White House, making her one of George W. Bush's top political aides until her resignation in 2007. She reported directly to Karl Rove. After she resigned from the Bush administration citing a desire to seek employment outside of government, the House and Senate Judiciary Committees approved subpoenas for Taylor to testify regarding her involvement in the controversy surrounding the dismissal of U.S. Attorneys.[1][2]

Taylor is the daughter of Ray Taylor, a former Iowa state representative, and a graduate of Drake University with a B.S. in Finance.

[edit] Career

During her time at Drake, Taylor held the position of National Co-Chairman of the College Republicans, and she worked on the Bush presidential campaign in 2004.[1]

Beginning July 2, 2003, Taylor served as Deputy to the Chief Strategist, Matthew Dowd, for the Bush-Cheney '04 Inc. re-election campaign: "Taylor worked for the White House as an associate political director (Midwest) doing political and public affairs outreach. During the 2000 campaign she worked from late April 1999 through January 2000 as coalitions director for Bush's Iowa caucus campaign, then did field work in the South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, and Illinois primaries, and finally served as executive director of the Michigan campaign. Previously, Taylor had worked for two years at the Tarrance Group, the northern Virginia polling firm headed by Ed Goeas. In 1995-96, she worked on Sen. Phil Gramm's presidential campaign in Iowa." [1]

[edit] Dismissal of U.S. Attorneys controversy

Main article: Dismissal of U.S. Attorneys controversy

On June 13, 2007 The Senate and House judiciary committees issued a subpoena to Taylor, to produce documents and testify before the committee. A subpoena was also issued to Harriet E. Miers, former White House counsel and supreme court nominee. In response to the subpoenas, the White House reiterated its longstanding policy that no past or present White House officials would be permitted to testify under oath before the panels, and that only private, non-legally-binding, non-transcribed interviews would be permitted.

The Chairs of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees reiterated that the White House terms were unacceptable.[3] A ranking member of the Senate Judiciary committee, Arlen Specter (R-PA) said that Taylor had not responded to an April 11, 2007 inquiry by the committee, and he supported the issuance of the subpoena in light of the lack of response by Taylor. On July 9, 2007, White House counsel Fred Fielding, in letters to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Representative John Conyers (D-MI) said the President Bush is invoking executive privilege and not allowing Taylor to testify, but reiterated that Taylor is available for a private, off-the-record interview. [4] Ultimately, on July 11, 2007, Taylor did appear before the committee, where she testified that she did not talk to or meet with President Bush about removing federal prosecutors before eight of them were fired. Former Chief of Staff to the attorney general Kyle Sampson had already testified that Ms. Taylor was upset when the Attorney General finally "rejected" use of the interim authority to appoint US Attorneys without Senate confirmation.[5] However, under questioning from Chairman Leahy, Taylor responded "I did not speak to the president about removing U.S. attorneys. I did not attend any meetings with the president where that matter was discussed." [6]

Taylor answered many questions with "I don't recall."[7] "Taylor shifted between defending the Bush administration and refusing to answer questions, claiming executive privilege via a letter from White House counsel Fred Fielding."[7] Slate magazine's Dahlia Lithwick was critical of Taylor's testimony, writing that "Loyalty to your boss is not a legal doctrine. Nor is trying to position yourself to get a good job someday in the future."[8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Michael A. Fletcher. "Another Top Bush Aide Makes an Exit", Washington Post, 2007-05-28. Retrieved on 2007-07-11. "Taylor, 32, was one of the first people put on the payroll of the Bush campaign[...] Taylor worked on the 2000 campaign, and later became a political aide in the White House. In 2004, she worked on Bush's reelection campaign"
  2. ^ AP. "Gonzales apologizes to U.S. attorneys", USA Today, 2007-03-18. Retrieved on 2007-07-11. 
  3. ^ Stout, David. "Congress Subpoenas Miers and Another Former Bush Aide", New York Times, June 13, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-13. 
  4. ^ Marre, Klaus. "Specter endorses subpoena of White House official", The Hill, Capitol Hill Publishing, June 13, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-14. 
  5. ^ Sen. Patrick J. Leahy - Letter to Fred Fielding
  6. ^ Bush orders Miers not to testify
  7. ^ a b Sessions, David (2007-07-12). Mixed Baghdad: Bloggers on the White House's Iraq progress report.. Slate.
  8. ^ Lithwick, Dahlia (2007-07-11). Rocking the Hard Place: Sara Taylor plays the Senate judiciary committee like a harp.. Slate.