Is USA O'Brien getting the bum rap or not?

Judge for yourself...

TPM:

We've posted a couple of times this week on the move by U.S. Attorney for Los Angeles Thomas O'Brien's decision to disband the public corruption unit in that office. On Monday, we quoted a former prosecutor in the unit on his view that the move "sends a message" to politicians that they don't need to be so careful. And yesterday, we relayed The Los Angeles Times' reporting on the move, which anonymously quoted a number of the prosecutors in the office who said that O'Brien had threatened them with retaliation if they publicly disputed the move.

But TPM Reader M thinks that O'Brien is getting a bum rap:

I recently left the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles for private practice, and I've followed the recent events in the office closely and talked to several folks who were at the meeting in question. I'm no loyal Bushie, and I've been outraged by what this administration has done to the U.S. Attorney's Office as an institution and experienced firsthand how hard it is to be a prosecutor in this administration. But Tom O'Brien is no Rachel Paulose. He's a career prosecutor and one of the best trial attorneys the office has seen in years. Yes, he's a Republican, but he was backed strongly by both Democratic senators Boxer and Feinstein for a job that most people figured was too radioactive to get Senate approval for anyone in the wake of the U.S. Attorney's scandal. O'Brien also done more to fix the budget problems, to boost morale, and enforce accountability in the office than any U.S. Attorney in LA in recent memory.

However, Scott Horton of Harper Magazine disagrees.

From Harper Magazine:

Few are buying that explanation, and some of O’Brien’s own staffers defied his gag order to challenge it in discussions with the L.A. Times:


several members of the disbanded unit challenged that explanation, saying the move was intended to punish lawyers for a perceived failure to produce and for bad-mouthing their boss, U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O’Brien.


The lawyers described a meeting last week in which an angry O’Brien derided attorneys in the office for working too few hours, filing too few cases and for speaking ill of him to subordinates.


They said O’Brien also threatened to tarnish their reputations if they challenged the official explanation for the unit’s dismantling in conversations with reporters. Members of the unit contacted by The Times either spoke on the condition that they not be named or declined to comment. Several said they wanted to talk about the situation but feared reprisals if they did so.


Critics of the move said they were concerned that it would severely limit the office’s ability to file long-term, complex corruption cases involving elected officials and other high-profile figures.


The office had one major investigation pending, looking into corruption allegations focusing on Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis of Redlands. O’Brien took a series of decisions immediately on his arrival to slow, and then stop that investigation. His decision to disband the unit that was handling it was the last in a series of maneuvers.