White House Backed U.S. Attorney Firings, Officials Say
The White House approved the firings of seven U.S. attorneys late last year after senior Justice Department officials identified the prosecutors they believed were not doing enough to carry out President Bush’s policies on immigration, firearms and other issues, White House and Justice Department officials said yesterday.The list of prosecutors was assembled last fall, based largely on complaints from members of Congress, law enforcement officials and career Justice Department lawyers, administration officials said.
A US attorney is generally hired with the idea that they’ll be trying to put away criminals- you know, people who break the law and are deserving of punishment. Historically, they’ve been relatively free from overt political pressures- until, that is, Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © rode into Washington on his white horse and decided that things were going to be different. Yes, since Republicans were now in power, why shouldn’t they be able to use the judicial system to help ensure that they remained in power? If this meant encouraging US attorneys to pursue Democrats much harder than they might Republicans…well, it’s only partisn if you choose to see it that way. Some might simply consider it the victor getting the spoils. Most of us consider it an egregious breach of the public trust.
Late last year, seven US attorney were relieved of the duties for what appears to be insufficiently fealty to the cause. Some were even told that their job performance wasn’t an issue in their firings. So what was?
One of the complaints came from Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), who specifically raised concerns with the Justice Department last fall about the performance of then-U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias of New Mexico, according to administration officials and Domenici’s office.
Iglesias has alleged that two unnamed New Mexico lawmakers pressured him in October to speed up the indictments of Democrats before the elections. Domenici has declined to comment on that allegation.
How desperate were Republicans prior to November’s election? Well, this ought to give you an idea. Then again, Domenici was just doing what Republicans do when they’re desperate- because NOTHING is more important then maintaining power.
I can understand pushing for a US attorney’s dismissal if their performance is demonstrably subpar. But demanding that a US attorney be fired for insufficient fealty to the cause is nothing less than a perversion of justice and a breach of the public trust. Criminal investigations, particularly on the federal level, should not be subject to political pressures. Pursuing federal criminal cases on the basis of party affiliation is unethical, immoral, and just plain wrong- and any attorney with a functional moral compass should be able to recognize this.
Since the mass firings were carried out three months ago, Justice Department officials have consistently portrayed them as personnel decisions based on the prosecutors’ “performance-related” problems. But, yesterday, officials acknowledged that the ousters were based primarily on the administration’s unhappiness with the prosecutors’ policy decisions and revealed the White House’s role in the matter.
“At the end of the day, this was a decision to pick the prosecutors we felt would most effectively carry out the department’s policies and priorities in the last two years,” said Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.
Great. Not only are we allowing Our Glorious and Benvolent Leader © to sacrifice our sons and daughters in Iraq for the sake of his legacy, he’s perverting our justice system for partisan gain. And you’re still glad you voted Republican??
NOW CAN WE IMPEACH THE LYING BASTARD??
