ProsecutorGate (With Update)

I haven't written anything on the emerging scandal involving BushCo's apparent politically-based firings of several federal prosecutors. This New York Times editorial summarizes the situation pretty well:

It is time for the Justice Department to stop issuing rote denials that are becoming increasingly hard to believe about the suspicious firing of eight United States attorneys. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should appoint an impartial investigator to get to the bottom of this unfolding scandal.

Just this week, David Iglesias, one of the eight fired United States attorneys, charged that he was dismissed for resisting pressure to begin a politically charged prosecution before the 2006 election. His allegation came shortly after performance evaluations came to light that throw considerable doubt on the Justice Department’s claim that the United States attorneys were fired for poor performance.

United States attorneys, the highest federal prosecutors at the state level, must be insulated from politics. Their decisions about whether to indict can ruin lives, and change the outcome of elections. To ensure their independence, United States attorneys are almost never removed during the term of the president who appointed them.

The Bush administration ignored this tradition, and trampled on prosecutorial independence, by firing eight United States attorneys in rapid succession, including one, Carol Lam of San Diego, who had put a powerful Republican congressman in jail. Mr. Iglesias, who was the U.S. attorney in New Mexico, says two members of Congress called him last October and urged him to pursue corruption charges against a prominent Democrat before the November election. He did not. He was dismissed.

Most of the fired United States attorneys’ performance evaluations praise them for the quality of their work, and for following the priorities set in Washington. These do not appear to be the evaluations of people who were fired for poor performance. * * *

I guess I didn't get too excited about this because, well, we have seen this type of thing before. The main reason Bush's presidency will be lumped amongst the worst in American history is because every decision this adminstration makes is based purely on politics and/or revenge. Folks like General Eric Shinseki, Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift, Coleen Rowley, and Richard Clarke all served this country with distinction and yet were treated like shit by the Bush Regime. So when I heard that all of these U.S. attorneys were fired, I merely thought it was "business as usual" for Bush.

But the background of the David Iglesias firing is very interesting, especially the part about two Republican members of Congress calling him last October and urging him to indict a Democrat before the November election. I have no doubt they were ordered by Karl Rove to make these calls. If this did indeed occur, then these acts would constitute ethics violations at the very least. Congress is investigating.

And speaking of that investigation, I thought this was pretty funny:

On Thursday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., issued subpoenas to require Iglesias and three other ousted U.S. attorneys to testify before Congress.

The judiciary subcommittee on administrative law authorized the subpoenas by a 7-0 vote. The five Republican members of the subcommittee didn't show up for the vote.

I love that last part about the GOP members of the subcommittee not showing up for the vote. What a political hot potato this must be for them. After all, if they showed up and voted against the subpoenas, then their political opponents could label them as being "pro-corruption," and if they voted to allow the subpoenas, then BushCo and its apologists would brand them as traitors.

I'm certain that we'll be seeing a lot more of this "not showing up for the vote" stuff in the months ahead. It should be a fun couple of years.

UPDATE: Well, it looks like at least half of Iglesias' story is true. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) has admitted that he did make such a call:

In retrospect, I regret making that call and I apologize. However, at no time in that conversation or any other conversation with Mr. Iglesias did I ever tell him what course of action I thought he should take on any legal matter. I have never pressured him nor threatened him in any way.

Domenici then fully embraced the BushCo talking point on this and stated that Iglesias was fired because he wasn't working hard enough on issues such as immigration. What a crock.