The administration is replacing U.S. Attorneys throughout the country.
How'd they get that power?
It was an obscure provision in the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act, and it didn't take them very long to use it. The president signed it into law in March of last year -- by June, they were already moving to replace unwanted prosecutors.
Former Arkansas USA Bud Cummins told the Wall Street Journal that "a top Justice official asked for his resignation in June, saying the White House wanted to give another person the opportunity to serve." Cummins was finally forced out in December, replaced with Timothy Griffin, formerly the research director of the Republican National Committee.
Section 502 of the PATRIOT Act reauthorization, which was first drafted in July of 2005 and finally signed in March of 2006, changed the law regarding the appointment of U.S. Attorneys. Whereas before the relevant federal district court would have appointed a replacement within 120 days after the Attorney General picked one, now that pick stood without challenge.
Former Arkansas USA Bud Cummins told the Wall Street Journal that "a top Justice official asked for his resignation in June, saying the White House wanted to give another person the opportunity to serve." Cummins was finally forced out in December, replaced with Timothy Griffin, formerly the research director of the Republican National Committee.
Section 502 of the PATRIOT Act reauthorization, which was first drafted in July of 2005 and finally signed in March of 2006, changed the law regarding the appointment of U.S. Attorneys. Whereas before the relevant federal district court would have appointed a replacement within 120 days after the Attorney General picked one, now that pick stood without challenge.
We know of seven who have left during the last couple of months, many under unusual circumstances. Here is our list:
San Francisco - 1/16/07 - Kevin V. Ryan - unclear
Nevada - 1/15/07 - Daniel Bogden - pushed out
San Diego - 1/12/07 - Carole Lam - pushed out
New Mexico - 12/19/06 - David Igleslias - pushed out
Arizona - 12/19/06 - Paul K. Charlton - unclear
Seattle - 12/15/06 - John McKay - unclear; likely pushed out
Little Rock (Ark.) - 12/15/06 - Bud Cummins - pushed out
Nevada - 1/15/07 - Daniel Bogden - pushed out
San Diego - 1/12/07 - Carole Lam - pushed out
New Mexico - 12/19/06 - David Igleslias - pushed out
Arizona - 12/19/06 - Paul K. Charlton - unclear
Seattle - 12/15/06 - John McKay - unclear; likely pushed out
Little Rock (Ark.) - 12/15/06 - Bud Cummins - pushed out
There is an eighth recently-departed U.S. attorney we know of, which some readers have noted: Debra Wong Yang, the former U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, Calif. Yang was overseeing the investigation into Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA). She announced her resignation in October 2006, but to date there hasn't been evidence that her departure was forced.
More on the story.
3 comments:
Do you have the scoop on these US attorney's. Were they too busy cleaning up corruption?
Chicago Native:
Here is the scoop of many of the U.S. Attorneys. They were snuffed out not because they were too busy for corruption but it is because some of the attorney were working on some of the corrupted officials. Bush is replacing them with yes men to push the Gerbil's agenda on the Patriot Act. Man, the Gerbil is a piece of work.
Here we go:
Kevin Ryan was nominated by Bush in 2002. He covers San Franscisco, Monterrey area… Now, San Francisco is Pelosi's area.
Daniel Bogden nominated byBbush in 2001.
Carole Lam nominated by Bush in 2001.
Here is Lam's story.
Lam, a Bush appointee who took the helm in 2002, was targeted because of job performance issues – in particular that she failed to make smuggling and gun cases a top priority, said the official, who declined to be identified because Lam has yet to step down.
Lam has had high-profile successes during her tenure, such as the Randy “Duke” Cunningham bribery case – but she alienated herself from bosses at the Justice Department because she is outspoken and independent, said local lawyers familiar with her policies.
John Mc Kay:
After five years as the top federal prosecutor for the Western District of Washington, U.S. Attorney John McKay announced Thursday that he will resign at the end of next month.
"I actually don't know what I'm going to do next," said McKay, 50, who plans to wait until he has left the U.S. Attorney's Office to look for another job. "I had hoped to become a federal judge, but that's not going to happen."
McKay was officially notified Thursday that he would not be nominated to fill an opening on the federal bench created by U.S. District Judge John Coughenour's elevation to senior status. The timing of the two announcements was coincidental, McKay said.
David Iglesias:
U.S. Attorney David Iglesias will resign in the next few months- more than two years before his appointment expires, an office spokesman confirmed Monday night.
Iglesias, appointed by President Bush in 2001 would normally have served as the state's chief federal lawman until the end of Bush's term in 2008.
U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Norm Cairns said Iglesias "has had discussions with officials in Washington, D.C. Based on those discussions, he has decided to move on."
Rumors that Iglesias was in trouble with his superiors at the Department of Justice have been circulating for months.
The chief criticism of Iglesias has been that he had not provided enough resources for public corruption investigations. Some of that criticism has come from the political arena and some from the FBI, which has made political corruption its No. 2 priority behind terrorism.
Paul K. Charlton appointed by Bush in 2001
Bud Cummins:
Timothy Griffin was sworn in as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas on Dec. 20, less than a week after his appointment prompted unusual public expressions of outrage from both of the state’s U.S. senators.
The outrage stems from the way Griffin was appointed. Instead of following the normal process, which would involve a presidential nomination and confirmation by the U.S. Senate, the Bush administration utilized a provision in the 2005 reauthorization of the Patriot Act that allows the attorney general to appoint an “interim U.S. attorney” without Senate confirmation. Therefore, Griffin, 38, will serve as interim U.S. attorney until he is formally nominated or replaced by the president.
I
nterim appointments are usually made to fill vacancies, but Griffin was named to the U.S. attorney post on Dec. 15, while it was still occupied by Bud Cummins.
Cummins is returning to the private sector.
And the ones that didn't have cases of corrupted officials are being replaced for Bush's agenda for the Patriot Act.
I am disappointed about Yang leaving. And she really wanted Lewis indicted.. And I know they wanted her gone.
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