Back in May, Donald Trump fired almost all of the US Attorneys. Lookinig to protect himself from prosecution and/or impeachment, Trump is now considering replacements for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York with lawyers from the law firm that represents him and another from the firm of his pal, former mayor of New …
Tag: US attorneys
Mar 10 2017
Friday Night Massacre
Griping about his administration being undermined by Obama holdovers and some fantasy about the existence of a “deep state“, Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III has requested the immediate resignations of 46 US Attorneys, including including Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan. The firings were a surprise — especially for Mr. Bharara, who …
Oct 07 2009
Obama = 1/3 Bush, or, at least, his US Attorneys are
More than eight months after President Barack Obama took office, one third of the country’s U.S. Attorney offices are still run by prosecutors appointed during the administration of Republican George W. Bush, according to a review of data by Main Justice.
At this point in October 2001 – after Bush succeeded Democrat Bill Clinton – less than 9 percent of the slots were occupied by Clinton holdovers.
Change? Well, I guess if you consider taking a dollar and giving you back 67 cents change, you can count it as change, right?
In an Administration so dedicated to bipartisanshit that they are seemingly willing to take the blame for fuck ups caused by their predecessors and risk becoming complicit in the last administrations war crimes, nothing speaks to the ineptitude of this current administration to distance themselves from or even address the failures of the criminal Bush/Cheney Administration than the fact that the Bush US Attorney’s who politicized the process of prosecuting matters of law is still more Bush than the Bush Administration was Clinton by this point in unpopularly elected, Supreme Court imposed Ex-President Bush’s first term.
Between that and the Republiican dominated military appointments made by the Obama team since his election, the team of rivals is quickly starting to look like the team of people who undermine one another while appearing to not know what the fuck they are talking about.
But as president, Obama has moved cautiously to replace U.S. Attorneys. While Bill Clinton asked for the resignation of all U.S. Attorneys after taking office in 1993 – a move that was criticized at the time as disruptive – the Obama White House has consulted closely with Republican senators. At times, the White House has delayed moving forward when GOP senators objected to an intended nominee. At the same time, some Democratic senators and House members have been slow in forwarding their recommendations for U.S. Attorneys to the White House, c0ntributing to delays, say people familiar with the process.
Among the Bushie leftovers are Middle Alabama District US Attorney Leura Canary, who prosecuted Don Seigelman in a fradulent case, Bill Mercer of Montana, who managed to hold two jobs at once during his tenure and in New Mexico, Gregory J. Fouratt, who replaced US Attorney David Iglesias who refused to stage a witch hunt against ACORN, that evil group whi si guilty of the heinous crimes of registering minorities to vote and fighting Corporate America for a living wage for the proletariat.
The end story, Obama really isn’t that different from Bush after all, or at least not as of now, almost a year since he won the election.
But you can still cheer for change if you want. Hell, 2/3rds of change is better than nothing, right?
Sep 29 2008
Wow! NYT: Special Prosecutor Named in Attorney Firings Case
Sure to get lost in the financial news, but pretty damn shocking all things considered!
WASHINGTON– Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey appointed a special prosecutor on Monday to investigate whether criminal charges should be brought against former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and other officials in connection with the firings of nine of United States attorneys in 2006.
The move came as the Justice Department released a report by its inspector general severely criticizing the process that led to the firings.
Snip
“The report makes plain that, at a minimum, the process by which nine U.S. attorneys were removed in 2006 was haphazard, arbitrary and unprofessional, and the way in which the Justice Department handled those removals and the resulting public controversy was profoundly lacking,” Mr. Mukasey said in a statement. The report called for further investigation to determine whether prosecutable offenses were committed either in the firings or in subsequent testimony about them.
Mar 16 2008
Was Spitzer Like Siegelman The Target Of A Political Prosecution?
cross posted from The Dream Antilles
Don Siegelman, a former, Democratic governor of Alabama and a good guy, was railroaded to a federal prison where he’s now serving a 7-year sentence, in a case that has Karl Rove’s fingerprints all over it. The case is a travesty and proof positive not only that there are political prisoners in the US but that Siegelman is one of them.
Yesterday, I wrote a diary about this disgraceful travesty because I wanted to keep the story alive. I don’t want us to forget that this conviction is an example of why there was a US Attorney scandal and why investigation of that scandal must continue.
The best sources of information on Siegelman, if you’re not yet familiar with this mockery of justice, is OPOL’s Friday diary on the case, a diary with lots of video and background, and Siegelman’s web site.
What’s any of this got to do with Eliot Spitzer, who has been forced to resign as Governor of New York because of his hiring prostitutes? Plenty.
Join me across the jump.