U.S. Attorneys Fired By Bush Admin

I have not really talked about this issue partly because of laziness on my part but mostly because Talking Points Memo, TPM Cafe, and other sites are doing a far superior job on reporting on this than I could do. However, this story is important, so I feel the need to mention it.

Prosecutors' firings slammed as 'purge'
Democrats accuse Justice Dept. of ousting 8 U.S. attorneys who wouldn't toe GOP line

Washington -- Top Democratic lawmakers Tuesday accused the Bush administration of carrying out a "political purge" by firing at least eight U.S. attorneys, including two from California.

Four of the federal prosecutors, including former U.S. Attorney Carol Lam of San Diego, told Congress during testimony Tuesday that they were ousted by the Justice Department without explanation and despite strong agency reviews of their performances.

Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias of New Mexico told the Senate Judiciary Committee he was fired after the state's senior U.S. senator, Republican Pete Domenici, called him at home in late October and asked whether the prosecutor planned to indict top local Democrats in a corruption case.

The call came just days before one of the country's most hotly contested House elections between New Mexico Rep. Heather Wilson and Democrat Patricia Madrid. Corruption was a key issue in the race and an indictment of a top Democratic official could have had an impact, the prosecutor testified.

It seems very likely that these U.S. Attorneys were pushed out of their jobs for political reasons, and knowing how the Bush administration operates, it seems very unlikely that there could be any other explanation for their dismissals.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is an evil man. He has argued for the use of torture and against the Constitutional balance of power, so for him to fire U.S. Attorneys for partisan political reasons is easily conceivable. If true, it is not shocking coming from him, but it is still horribly wrong and deserves punishment.

Additionally, Gonzales my not be the only one who suffers from this scandal:

Republicans could face new ethics probes

[...]The Senate ethics committee already is conducting a preliminary inquiry into the call by Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., to a prosecutor in his state. The action was required once the committee received a complaint against Domenici from a congressional watchdog group.

The House's ethics panel has more discretion on starting an initial inquiry. But Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said there should be one. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., contacted the same prosecutor as Domenici.

Edward Cassidy, a top aide to House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio and a former ethics committee staff member, contacted a prosecutor in Washington state.

The Senate's ethics manual says Senate offices should refrain from intervening in pending court actions "until the matter has reached a resolution in the courts." The House's version has similar warnings.

Knowing how reluctant congressional ethics committees are about investigating ethics violations (even though that is their job), I do not have high hopes that much will happen in terms of punishment for these people despite the fact that all three are Republicans and the Democrats now control Congress.

We voted for a change of power in Congress in 2006 partly because of ethics problems that plagued Washington, D.C., but that does not mean our job is over. We must continue to work to ensure that Congress does not fall back into a lazy attitude toward corruption.

We put the Democrats into power, and if they do not uphold our standards, they will lose our support and that power. Whether the issue is ethics or getting our troops out of Iraq, we need to ensure that they follow our will, the will of the American people.