It's a controversy that that has emerged in the last week that we have not covered here. A number of U.S. Attorneys, the lead prosecutors in the federal system, have been forced out of their jobs lately, and some smell politics from the White House. The Houston Chronicle has an editorial, "Dropping like flies."
n the past year 11 U.S. attorneys have resigned their positions, some under pressure from their Justice Department superiors and the White House, even through they had commendable performance records.
Democratic senators are concerned that the high turnover is linked to an obscure, recently passed provision of the Patriot Act. The provision allows the Bush administration to fill vacancies with interim prosecutors for the remainder of the president's term without submitting them to the Senate for confirmation. Previously, interim appointments were made by a vote of federal judges in the districts served by the outgoing U.S. attorneys.
U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., contends that in his state U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins was improperly ousted in favor of a protege of Bush political adviser Karl Rove. Likewise in California, U.S. Attorneys Carol Lam of San Diego and Kevin Ryan of San Francisco were forced from their positions. Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., alleged that Lam fell out of favor with her Washington bosses for spearheading the bribery prosecution and conviction of Republican Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham last year. Lam reportedly had other politicians in her sights.
Howard Bashman at How Appealing has more here. From his latest:
"Political Meddling With Justice": The New York Times contains this editorial today. And today in The Los Angeles Times, Henry Weinstein has an article headlined "Appointment called unconstitutional; A lawyer alleges recent U.S. attorney selection violates appointments clause."
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