# Why is the Justice Department firing so many U.S. Attorneys? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 19, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607 "2007-01-19T19:25:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/21 "2007-01-20T14:41:14Z")
[QUOTE=Apos] So, Bricker, aside from the nitpick, you don’t think there is anything fishy about a raft of firings of folks that have investigated Republican corruption and replacing them with, among other things, Karl Rove’s former opposition research assistant? [/QUOTE] Cite for Bogden, Lam, Ryan, or any of the others having investigated Pub corruption? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/22 "2007-01-20T14:50:19Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] Sure it is: [/QUOTE] But both Houses still have to vote on the final bill. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/23 "2007-01-20T15:04:10Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] But both Houses still have to vote on the final bill. [/QUOTE] And what procedure is there for first bringing it clearly to their attention that the bill they’re voting on now is not **quite** the same as the bill they voted out into the conference committee? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/24 "2007-01-20T15:04:43Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] But both Houses still have to vote on the final bill. [/QUOTE] They don’t always do so. See my lawsuit ref. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/25 "2007-01-20T15:08:04Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] (Note to puppy Dopers: “Big Enchilada” references a comment made by Nixon that he might be able to offer up John Mitchell (Atty. Gen.) to the circling investigators of Watergate, by convincing them they already _had_ the biggest fish they were going to net.) [/QUOTE] Thank you, but that doesn’t explain why it’s _big enchilada_ and not, say, _big sope_, or _big burrito_. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/26 "2007-01-20T15:18:13Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] They don’t always do so. See my lawsuit ref. [/QUOTE] But they’re always supposed to do so. What was the result of that lawsuit? Of course there are going to be times when errors are made, but if so, then I believe such a lawsuit would be upheld. No? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/27 "2007-01-20T15:40:58Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] But they’re always supposed to do so. What was the result of that lawsuit? [/QUOTE] Sure, they’re supposed to. There are lots of things the government is supposed to do. Apparently there were several lawsuits over this. Some have been dismissed, and [some are ongoing.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deficit_Reduction_Act_of_2005#Dispute_over_status_of_the_law) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/28 "2007-01-20T17:48:44Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] Sure, they’re supposed to. There are lots of things the government is supposed to do. Apparently there were several lawsuits over this. Some have been dismissed, and [some are ongoing.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deficit_Reduction_Act_of_2005#Dispute_over_status_of_the_law) [/QUOTE] So, then Congress needs to clean it up. Bush only knows about the bill that was sent to him to sign. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/29 "2007-01-20T18:03:43Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] …Bush only knows about the bill that was sent to him to sign. [/QUOTE] Plausible, I suppose, for legislative acts of routine villainy. But the Patriot Act? Not so much. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/30 "2007-01-20T18:05:50Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Plausible, I suppose, for legislative acts of routine villainy. But the Patriot Act? Not so much. [/QUOTE] One rather obscure clause. But still, if I were president, I’d go with whatever bill I signed and if Congress has a problem with that, they can take action. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/31 "2007-01-20T18:15:59Z")
It was certainly obscure to the Democrats. But a clause that enhances Presidential authority, such as this, is unlikely to escape his attention, or at least the attention of his handlers, which amounts to the same thing. Besides, you are close to suggesting that the President would sign a bill he hadn’t read, which would…ok, gotta give you that one, his lips would tire. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/32 "2007-01-20T18:30:03Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] One rather obscure clause. [/QUOTE] But one that did not mysteriously appear by itself. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/33 "2007-02-16T15:20:28Z")
[‘Temporary’ is good enough for Arkansas US attorney](http://www.nwanews.com/adg/National/182004/print/): > [@](#): > > “I have made the decision not to let my name go forward to the Senate,” Griffin said Thursday evening. > … > Griffin said Thursday that if he were to go through the confirmation process, “I don’t think there is any way I could get fair treatment by Sen. Pryor or others on the judiciary committee.” > > He said he will continue to serve in the top law enforcement position in the state’s eastern district as long as the White House keeps him there under the interim title or “gets someone else that I can help transition into this job. > > “But to submit my name to the Senate would be like volunteering to stand in front of a firing squad in the middle of a three-ring circus.” No doubt Harriet Miers warned him about such three-ring circuses when she told him how she’d [secured him the appointment](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/16/washington/16attorneys.html?_r=1&oref=slogin) in the first place. Meanwhile, Republicans are [blocking any reversal of the new rule](http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/021607/attorney.html): > [@](#): > > The battle over seven dismissed U.S. attorneys took a sharp partisan turn yesterday, with Senate Republicans vowing to hold up a bill revoking the Justice Department’s power to indefinitely appoint prosecutors until Democrats give ground on amendments. You’d think reversal would be a no brainer, what with Arlen Specter, the man whose staff inserted the original measure into Patriot Act authorization, cosponsoring the measure, but this is Washington, and there’s political grandstanding to be done. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/34 "2007-02-16T16:29:49Z")
[Local speculation](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003574683_mckay16m0.html) has the attorney in our area being fired not because of worries that he might investigate Republican corruption (he’s a Republican himself) but because he refused to waste money looking into ridiculous and petty accusations of Democratic corruption levied by vindictive far-right Republicans looking for payback for having been defeated in the governor’s race. No hard facts in the article, just a lot of air and innuendo. The most suspicious element of the story is that nobody seems willing to pony up on the specifics of what “performance issues” made it necessary to show the man the door. He got a glowing appraisal seven months ago, and suddenly now he’s getting the boot? Uh huh. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/35 "2007-02-17T00:30:47Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] Meanwhile, Republicans are [blocking any reversal of the new rule](http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/021607/attorney.html): [/QUOTE] The article says they’re not planning a filibuster, so how can they block it? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/36 "2007-03-02T02:29:15Z")
[Ex-prosecutor says pressure political](http://www.krqe.com/video/expanded.asp?ID=6028) (video interview with David Iglesias, former United States attorney in New Mexico) > [@](#): > > Did they actually ask you to speed up the indictment, before the election? [Judiciary Subcommittee Issues Subpoenas for Hearing on Case of Fired U.S. Attorneys](http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=77) > [@](#): > > Subcommittee members voted this afternoon in a public meeting. The subpoenas will be issued this evening for the U.S. Attorneys to appear before the subcommittee on Tuesday, March 6, at 2:00 pm So we should find out if there is an odor of fish about this affair, next week. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/37 "2007-03-16T12:29:49Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] I must have missed the posts in which the facts you allege above were established. How many AUSAs, overall, have been removed and what percentage of them were “investigating Republican corruption?” How many AUSAs who have investigated Republican corruption remain in their jobs? Make a real case, rather than some vague suppositions based on even vaguer event sequences, and I might begin to smell fish. [/QUOTE] If it walks like a duck, etc. Time and time again. It’s got to be hard that the government you so admire seems to be on the sleazy end, over and over and over again. I feel for those of you who believed what they were selling and helped get them elected. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607/38 "2007-03-16T13:31:32Z")
This lapsed discussion has already been superseded by the thread [That CRAAAAAAAAZY conspiracy theory: the mass firings of US Attorneys](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=411175). We can continue the discussion, there. I’m closing this one. [/Moderating] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-justice-department-firing-so-many-u-s-attorneys/388607.md?page=1)