When Alberto Gonzales and Andrew Card visited John Ashcroft in a desperate attempt to secure his approval of the president's illegal wiretapping program, the second in command at the Justice Department, James Comey, intervened (as TalkLeft reported here and here). Accompanying Comey on his trip to the hospital was Patrick Philbin, described in this post as (like Comey) having later left the Justice Department "under stressful circumstances."

Adding to Philbin's stress was the knowledge that helping Comey block Gonzales had caused his career to dead-end. According to answers that Comey supplied as a follow-up to his Senate testimony, Vice President Cheney blocked Philbin's promotion.

Mr. Philbin was considered for principal Deputy Solicitor General after Paul Clement became Solicitor General. It was my understanding that the Vice President’s office blocked that appointment.

I understood that someone at the White House communicated to Attorney General Gonzales that the Vice President would oppose the appointment if the Attorney General pursued the matter. The Attorney General chose not to pursue it.

Philbin also participated in Comey's "thumbs down" review of the wiretap program. Comey's written answers are available here.