Welcome to Gonzales Watch - Blawging the Ex-Attorney General

Sara Taylor, the White House Director of Political Affairs (inset, left), may be compelled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the U.S. Attorney firings investigation.

According to the Washington Post, she “reports to senior adviser Karl Rove and her name has appeared on several e-mails released by the Justice Department in which White House and Justice officials discuss planning for the firings.”

The Committee suspects that Taylor is a key link to uncovering more details in the U.S. Attorney firings scandal because of her work with Rove. E-mails reportedly reveal that “Taylor’s office was keenly interested in securing the appointment of former Rove deputy Tim Griffin to be the U.S. Attorney for Little Rock,” and that Justice Department officials “planned to circumvent senatorial confirmation for Griffin by using a now revoked power to appoint interim prosecutors for indefinite periods– something Gonzales had previously assured [Arkansas Senator Mark] Pryor he was not trying to do.