I can’t imagine wanting to work under Gonzales in this environment, even if I agreed with his bizarre notions of what he (and Bush) want the Justice Department to become. What’s the line, you reap what you sow?
Fewer candidates apply for positions as U.S. attorneys
The Bush administration’s decision to fire nine U.S. attorneys last year has created a new problem for the White House: The controversy appears to be discouraging applications for some of the 22 prosecutor posts that President Bush needs to fill.
Of the nation’s 93 U.S. attorneys, 22 are serving without Senate confirmation as interim or acting prosecutors.
[…]
White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the administration is committed to nominating candidates for all 22 open positions, but so far the administration has submitted only four nominees.
“It has nothing to do with recent events,” [WH spokesman Tony] Fratto said. “The closer you get toward the end of the second term, you’re going to have fewer people.” He also said the administration continues to attract “really, really talented people for top jobs.”
David Iglesias, the ousted New Mexico U.S. attorney, said that timing may be a contributing factor, but that the administration is in denial if it doesn’t believe there are concerns about low office morale, the ability to remain independent or even the odds of being confirmed by a suspicious Senate controlled by the Democrats.
“It has nothing to do with recent events,” my ass – who would want to sign up for a job where your job performance is not based on prosecuting those who violate the law, but whether your prosecutions benefit the party your tied to, and if you don’t, well, you’re going to be called incompetent.
Yeah, I’d pass on that job as well.
Which can then only prove the inherent fairness and righteousness of conservative attorneys that they don’t apply for such a position.
RBG
how the fact that you job will most likely end in the next 18 months
I dont think if you posted a position that said you have to move to a new city and start a new job but it will only last 18 months at the most, and you will only get govt scale pay
stupid propaganda piece. they are dipping pretty deep into the bull shit pile for the piece of crap reporting
Recorplican pess release b.s
Doh! pRess release b.s
#3. Being the US Attorney is a primo piece of resume fodder – even if it was for a short time. And the pay is not bad – the US Attorney who heads up an office is pretty far up the GS level.
Or at least it used to be.
Now all it shows is that you are a loyal Bushie.
Still, I would think there would be enough graduates of Messiah University law school to fill the spots.
I don’t understand all of the sudden interest in US Attorney’s. This has all been a load of political crap. US Attorneys have always been a political appointee position, usually filled by a bunch of loyal party members who happen to be attorneys, but aren’t high enough in the party to get better jobs. It’s one of those jobs where you really do serve at the Presidents pleasure. It’s patronage…period.
Every President in modern history has usually cleared out most of the attorneys that were in office when the new President comes in. Especially the ones with jurisdiction in important areas like New York, Chicago, L.A., etc.
Bush has actually fired or let go the least of any 2 term President since 1900. They are doing another Fitzgerald here….making crimes where none existed. These people are accused of lying when asked questions about the firings. Nothing more. There is no proof of anything…….remember when you same people were screaming because the Republicans were raking the Clintons over the coals with out any real proof? Or Scooter Libby is going to jail, not because he leaked a CIA name….but because he couldn’t correctly name what days he talked to a reporter…….thats just stupid. I never heard of Scooter Libby until all that took place…
Remember, when Clinton came into office in 1993….the very first thing he did (at Hillary’s insistence) was to ask for the resignations of ALL 93 U.S. Attorneys. Some were rehired, most weren’t. Where’s all the self-righteous indignation over that?
#7. It is widely acknowledged that US Attorneys are political appointees. But, given their immense power, they are expected to act in an apolitical manner once they are appointed.
Also, while it is not unusual at all for an incoming president to appoint all new US Attorneys at the begining of his term, it is VERY unusual for that president to fire them in the midst of his term. It is also VERY (and thankfully) unusual for US Attorneys to be fired in the midst of their terms for avowedly political reasons, such as for refusing to pursue politically-sensitive prosecutions.
Scooter Libby was convicted of lying and obstructing a grand jury investigation. The jury did not believe his claim of (highly convenient) memory lapses. The fact that a US Attorney (Fitzgerald) could take Libby down not for a substantive crime but for obstructing the investigation into another crime merely proves how absolutely powerful US Attorneys are and how absolutely essential that, even if they are political appointees, they exercise their offices in absolutely apolitical manner.
#8…Doug…..the truely amazing thing is that the vast majority of the U.S. Attorneys do their jobs without bias. Some have gone out of their way to get in the public eye(thinking Guiliani, and Spector here) and some have been just horrible, but most have done good jobs.
While it may be unusual for them to be fired mid-term and for obvious political reasons, it happens and probably a lot more than we are aware of.
The only crime here is going to be people lying about why these people were fired. The firing’s and all the rest aren’t crimes. The lying wouldn’t have occured if the DOJ wasn’t so paranoid about being seen as political, and the media wasn’t so hopped up about bashing this administration.
As someone who could be a U.S. attorney, I am very much interested in the scandal. If the Bush administration is allowed to subvert the highest levels of the justice department, then, we really don’t have a justice department anymore. That certainly matters.
The people I hear defending Rove and Co., by repeating the ‘nothing to see here, move on’ partly line are invariably stupid, those who would support the GOP even if it declared a dictatorship tomorrow, or both.