Posted on 01/16/2007 5:16:27 AM PST by radar101
Senators to seek answers about U.S. attorneys' exits
A national political storm is brewing over the departures of several top prosecutors, including San Diego U.S. Attorney Carol Lam.
Lam has not commented since reports surfaced last week that she was asked to resign as the chief federal law enforcement officer in San Diego.
Sources told The San Diego Union-Tribune that superiors in the Justice Department are unhappy with decreased prosecutions for gun and immigration violations.
Lam, a political independent, was appointed by President Bush in 2002.
In recent months, at least four other U.S. attorneys have announced their departures, two of them confirming that they've been asked to resign.
With reports yesterday that the Department of Justice has demanded the resignation of another top prosecutor, in Las Vegas, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is scheduled this week to answer questions from skeptical senators.
Democratic lawmakers have criticized the recent departures from the ranks of top federal prosecutors as worrisome.
“We have no idea why this is happening,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, said in a statement last week. “The attorney general could have a legitimate reason for asking for specific resignations, or this could be motivated by political concerns or worse, derailing ongoing investigations.”
A Feinstein spokesman yesterday declined to comment on the situation in San Diego.
Typically, the nation's 93 U.S. attorneys are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, but a provision in last year's Patriot Act allows the attorney general to make interim appointments with indefinite terms.
Feinstein and other senators introduced legislation that would return the power to appoint interim U.S. attorneys to federal judges.
Gonzales is scheduled to testify Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Feinstein is a member.
Both U.S. senators from Nevada said this weekend that U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden had been asked to step down, according to a report published yesterday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Bogden's spokeswoman wasn't available yesterday, a federal holiday. When asked about her boss' future last week, she told the Union-Tribune “I can't comment on that right now.”
Meanwhile, H.E. “Bud” Cummins, the former U.S. Attorney in Little Rock, Ark., said this weekend that he was, asked to leave his job so the Bush administration could fill it with a political appointee.
Cummins said he had planned to leave the post anyway, so was not troubled by the request.
Arkansas' senators, both Democrats, criticized the appointment of Tim Griffin, a former White House lawyer who also worked for the Republican National Committee, as Cummins' successor.
Outgoing New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias also said he was asked to resign, but without explanation.
Other U.S. Attorneys who recently announced they are leaving include John McKay in Seattle and Paul Charlton in Phoenix. Neither has said he was pushed out; McKay said he would “be returning to the private sector” while Charlton said he was leaving to join a law firm.
Lam's replacement will say a lot about why she was asked to leave, said former San Diego U.S. Attorney Peter Nuñez.
“If they drag in somebody nobody's ever heard of from D.C. or somebody's cousin or some rich guy's nephew, that will tell you more about what happened than anything else,” he said.
Onell Soto: (619) 293-1280; onell.soto@uniontrib.com
I seem to recall that Bill Clinton FIRED ALL of the Deputy Attorney Generals, and replaced them with loyal 'Rats.
I don't remember Di asking for an investigation when all incumbent US Attorneys were fired by the Clintoons...
BUMP!
The Bush administration probably wants to have more US attorneys who will prosecute those who interfere with drug traffic. They seem to have a winner with Johnny Sutton in San Antonio.
"superiors in the Justice Department are unhappy with decreased prosecutions for gun and immigration violations."
Guns AND immigration??????
Well, at least they're ignoring the concerns of the left equally with those of the right.
No, you're conflating two different things. Traditionally, the President appoints U.S. Attorneys of his own party. The problem with Clinton is that he did so summarily, jeopardizing ongoing investigations for his political purposes. What I don't understand in this case is what Bush is doing firing all these Republicans (all these US Attorneys are GOPers) without anything resembling a public comment.
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