[Ninong]

Never underestimate the resourcefulness of the Bush Administration in finding new ways to circumvent the constitutional checks and balances that have been a part of our form of government since its founding:

In a little noticed provision included in the Patriot Act reauthorization last year, the Administration's authority to appoint interim U.S. Attorneys was greatly expanded. The law was changed so that if a vacancy arises the Attorney General may appoint a replacement for an indefinite period of time – thus completely avoiding the Senate confirmation process.

Senators Feinstein, Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) last week introduced the Preserving United States Attorney Independence Act, which would prevent further circumvention of the Senate's constitutional prerogative to confirm U.S. Attorneys and restore appointment authority to the appropriate District Courts.



Recent newspaper articles have detailed the circumstances surrounding the departure of several U.S. Attorneys across the country:

• Politicizing Prosecutors: “United States attorneys are so powerful that their impartiality must be beyond question. One way to ensure that is to require them to submit to questions from the Senate, and face a confirmation vote.” New York Times – 1/15/07. www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/opinion/15mon2.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

• U.S. Attorney Vacancies Spark Concerns: “As the Bush administration enters its last two years, a number of U.S. attorneys are departing, causing concern that some high-profile prosecutions may suffer. As many as seven U.S. attorneys. . . are leaving or being pushed out.” Wall Street Journal – 1/16/07. http://online.wsj.com/google_login.html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com% 2Farticle%2FSB116891552371177295.html%3Fmod%3Dgoog lenews_wsj

• Lam is Asked to Step Down: “The Bush administration has quietly asked San Diego U.S. Attorney Carol Lam, best known for her high-profile prosecutions of politicians and corporate executives, to resign her post, a law enforcement official said.” San Diego Union Tribune – 1/12/07. http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070112/news_1n12lam.html

• Nevada U.S. Attorney Given Walking Papers: “The Bush administration has forced Daniel Bogden out of his position as U.S. attorney for the District of Nevada, Nevada's two senators said Sunday.” Las Vegas Review Journal – 1/16/07. www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2007/Jan-15-Mon-2007/news/11980257.html

Transcript of Senator Feinstein's floor speech.

P.S. -- The departure that started the uproar is that of Bud Cummins in Little Rock, Ark., whose replacement, Timothy Griffin, is a former political official in the Bush White House and the Republican National Committee. Mr. Cummins, in an interview, said a top Justice official asked for his resignation in June, saying the White House wanted to give another person the opportunity to serve.

[Ninong]

Carol Lam, US Attorney in San Diego, who prosecuted Duke Cunningham and was continuing her investigation into Bush appointee Kyle "Dusty" Foggo at CIA, has resigned:

SAN DIEGO -- Ending days of speculation, San Diego-area U.S. Attorney Carol Lam announced Tuesday afternoon in a news release that she will step down from the job on Feb. 15.

News stories first surfaced last week that she had been asked to resign, but no government source was willing to go on the record with the information.

The release did not provide a reason for Lam's resignation nor did it say if she had been asked to resign. Reached by phone late Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the 47-year-old Lam said that there would be no other comment.

In a Tuesday phone interview from his Washington office, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, said Lam was asked to step down.

Issa declined to name the source of the information, but said "it was a high-ranking administration official involved in the decision process."

P.S. -- I can't wait for Sen. Feinstein to grill Alberto Gonzales on why he's firing all these troublesome U.S. Attorneys.

[schrocat]

Step right up Mr. Alberto...

The Gateway to Impeachment.

He goes first.

[Ninong]

What they are doing is so incredibly unamerican that members of Congress probably didn't see it coming when that amendment was slipped into the Patriot Act reauthorization bill by the Republican sheep who do the bidding of our boy king.

What a chilling effect if must have on all current U.S. attorneys to see their colleagues asked to resign if they vigorously prosecute the likes of Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, Bob Ney, Duke Cunningham, etc. Then the totally corrupt Bush Administration appoints a political crony for the remainder of the President's term without having that hack subjected to Senate confirmation.

Who would have even guessed they would do such a thing?

P.S. -- It's interesting to see that Harriet Miers, who was the most qualified person for the Supreme Court not that long ago is no longer qualified enough to defend the boy king against the expected congressional investigations. They bringing in a lot of heavy hitters into the Office of the White House Counsel. John Dean said he wishes they good luck because they're going to need it.