Why US Attorneys were fired

That’s what Congress wants to know, and the American people should demand to know. US Attorneys are political appointees and serve at the pleasure of the President. However, they also have a sworn duty to uphold the Constitution and perform their jobs without political bias or influence. It is quite common for all US Attorneys to be replaced at the beginning of a new President’s term. It is highly unusual for US Attorneys to be replaced mid-term.

All eight of the recently fired US Attorneys were appointed by the Bush Administration and confirmed by a Republican-controlled Congress. They were fired with the explanation that they were underperforming. Red flags were raised when this turned out to not be true; six of them had very positive performance reviews. People started asking why they were really fired. Here’s why it’s a concern.

If a US Attorney was fired because they he or she was investigating Republicans for political corruption, that’s obstruction of justice. If fired because he or she was not investigating Democrats, that’s abuse of power. Both are serious crimes. Our system of justice cannot become an arm of either political party as it did during the Nixon administration (remember that John Mitchell, Nixon’s Attorney General, went to jail). Our justice system must remain independent of such political influence.

Carol Lam, US Attorney in San Diego, seems to have been singled out because of her continuing investigation into those associated with Duke Cunningham. Representative Jerry Lewis was part of that investigation, and the trail was leading to the White House, possibly involving Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Mitchell Wade, the contractor who pleaded guilty to paying Cunningham over $1,000,000 in bribes, got his very first government contract from Dick Cheney’s office for $140,000 for furniture and computers. Two weeks later Wade paid $140,000 in cash to purchase a yacht for Cunningham, renamed “Duke-Stir.” These are the types of questions US Attorney Lam was trying to answer when she was fired.

The House and Senate have voted to approve subpoenas calling on White House staff to testify.

Jon Monday