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Fired U.S. Attorneys Deserve our Defense

By Hank Johnson

This has been a troubling week.

We have all watched with concern the slow drip of revelations regarding the fishy dismissal of U.S. Attorneys in seven states.

Like many of you, I suspect that dirty politics clouded the judgment of senior White House and Department of Justice officials in this affair.  It appears that the Attorneys were fired for refusing to indict Democratic candidates during last year's election.

The most revealing quote uncovered this week, as reported in Tuesday's Washington Post (LINK):

"[I]f we don't ever exercise it then what's the point of having it?"

--that from former Alberto Gonzales Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson.

He was referring to the presidential power, newly granted by The PATRIOT Act, to appoint interim U.S. Attorneys following the removal of incumbents.  Previously, interim U.S. Attorneys were appointed by the judiciary in order to deter exactly this sort of scandalous political maneuver.

Sampson's quote illustrates just how destructive the massive expansion of presidential power over the last half-decade has been. The president and his handlers have proven that they are prone to abuse all of the excessive prerogatives they have squeezed out of Republican Congresses since 2001.

It's time for this new Congress to aggressively oversee and investigate potential abuses of presidential power.

As such, I am eager to get to the bottom of the U.S. Attorneys affair. Today I introduced a resolution drawing attention to the scandal and commending the fired Attorneys for their poise in the face of improper political pressure and their ultimate dismissals.

Stay tuned to this blog for further updates.

 

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Full post as published by Hank Johnson's Blog on March 15, 2007 (boomark / email).