Just to Show You Where Republican Priorities Are When It Comes to Justice and Ethics
First off, thanks for the great idea for the title Rob, I hope you like it. A few days ago I posted on the recent firing of more than a half a dozen US Attorneys for false reasons. The post did contain a bit too much profanity, for which I apologize.
In the interim, I had a chance to speak with a close friend of mine who was formerly a Bush appointed US attorney (and probably would have been axed if he still was one as he is a very hard working and ethical person) and is now a circuit court of appeals judge. He knew all the fired US attorneys personally and reaffirmed my hunch that all these people were very hardworking and highly ethical people, the types one would wish to be US attorneys, whether appointed by a democrat or a republican. Obviously it would be very disturbing, perverse (to put it lightly), if our federal prosecutors adopted the use partisan litmus tests before pursuing justice.
He had more to say. This type of thing is 100% unprecedented in history. The US attorney from NM that received a majority of the attention in my previous post was fired on the grounds that he could have been working harder. This is a blatant lie. David Iglesias was an extremely hard-working and ethical person. He took part in a US-Canada-Mexico cooperation project on border security which involved lots of travel and late nights and was a volunteer thing. Not only was he hard working and ethical, he even took on extra, voluntary work in addition to his regular schedule. In addition he resisted the urges of both the senators from his state to reveal the contents of classified, sealed envelopes and also to speed up the process in a democrat corruption case in anticipation of the November elections. He did not capitulate to the illegal requests of these lawmakers and was abruptly hung up on by both of them.
The lady US attorney from California who was fired, Carol Lam, was supposedly fired because, “because her prosecution rate for violent crime and border violations was insufficient”, however she also happens to be the prosecutor in the Abramoff debacle.
Apparently these people were fired for over-performing, for resisting the urges of politicians to compromise the integrity of the US justice system with partisan-motivated, illegal activities. A quick review of their replacements reveals a group that, when compared to the shoes they are filling, are practically without experience. While this whole thing is not illegal, these people are all ‘at-will’ employees of the government, it is 100% unethical. If anything, the current administration should have held these people up as examples of excellent Americans, all of them being long-time public servants, hardworking, and dedicated to justice and ethics above and beyond petty politics and illegal hackery.
In the interim, I had a chance to speak with a close friend of mine who was formerly a Bush appointed US attorney (and probably would have been axed if he still was one as he is a very hard working and ethical person) and is now a circuit court of appeals judge. He knew all the fired US attorneys personally and reaffirmed my hunch that all these people were very hardworking and highly ethical people, the types one would wish to be US attorneys, whether appointed by a democrat or a republican. Obviously it would be very disturbing, perverse (to put it lightly), if our federal prosecutors adopted the use partisan litmus tests before pursuing justice.
He had more to say. This type of thing is 100% unprecedented in history. The US attorney from NM that received a majority of the attention in my previous post was fired on the grounds that he could have been working harder. This is a blatant lie. David Iglesias was an extremely hard-working and ethical person. He took part in a US-Canada-Mexico cooperation project on border security which involved lots of travel and late nights and was a volunteer thing. Not only was he hard working and ethical, he even took on extra, voluntary work in addition to his regular schedule. In addition he resisted the urges of both the senators from his state to reveal the contents of classified, sealed envelopes and also to speed up the process in a democrat corruption case in anticipation of the November elections. He did not capitulate to the illegal requests of these lawmakers and was abruptly hung up on by both of them.
When Iglesias told Wilson that he couldn’t speak about the existence of sealed indictments, “She was not happy with that answer,” he said, and their call ended a short time later.
The lady US attorney from California who was fired, Carol Lam, was supposedly fired because, “because her prosecution rate for violent crime and border violations was insufficient”, however she also happens to be the prosecutor in the Abramoff debacle.
John McKay, the fired U.S. attorney in Seattle, said he stopped a top aide to Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., from asking him detailed questions about an investigation into the disputed election of Washington state’s Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire in 2004.
Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty told senators earlier this month that one of the seven prosecutors was forced out to give his post to a former aide to presidential adviser Karl Rove. The others were fired for “performance-related” reasons, he said.
....
Chiara [the first female US attorney from Michigan] was nominated by President Bush for the position in 2001. During her tenure as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Michigan, the jurisdiction has seen a 15 percent increase in felony prosecutions and convictions. She developed an attorney training and mentoring program that now serves as a national model, her office said.
Moschella, the Justice Department’s principal deputy associate attorney general, acknowledged the dismissals were poorly executed. “In hindsight, it could have been handled better,” Moschella said. “It would have been much better to address the relevant issues [with each U.S. Attorney] upfront.”
Despite Moschella's criticisms, all ... had received positive evaluations from the Justice Department during periodic performance reviews.
Apparently these people were fired for over-performing, for resisting the urges of politicians to compromise the integrity of the US justice system with partisan-motivated, illegal activities. A quick review of their replacements reveals a group that, when compared to the shoes they are filling, are practically without experience. While this whole thing is not illegal, these people are all ‘at-will’ employees of the government, it is 100% unethical. If anything, the current administration should have held these people up as examples of excellent Americans, all of them being long-time public servants, hardworking, and dedicated to justice and ethics above and beyond petty politics and illegal hackery.
