Congressional Research Service: Attorney Scandal Without Precedent

[Starfury]

Thought folks might find this interesting:

One question that has remained unresolved is the extent to which the view put forth by the Bush administration matches that of previous administrations. Is the White House and Justice Department today practicing business as usual? Or is this a complete break from past practice and an unprecedented move?

That question appears to be largely resolved by a Congressional Research Service report on the issue released yesterday. CRS examined the tenure of all U.S. Attorneys who were confirmed by the Senates between the years 1981 and 2006 to determine how many had served—and of those how many had been forced to resign for reasons other than a change in administration.

The answer is that of the 468 confirmations made by the Senate over the 25-year period, only 10 left office involuntarily for reasons other than a change in administration prior to the firings that took place in December, according to the available evidence gathered by CRS. The average incidence of such involuntary departures was one out of every two-and-a-half years; the largest number of such departures prior to this administration was a total of four departures during the Clinton administration.

But the December firings by the Bush administration stand in even more stark contrast with the firings that took place in previous administrations when the grounds for the departures are examined. In virtually all instances prior to the December firings, including two previous departures during this administration, serious issues of personal or professional conduct appeared to be the driving issue.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/03/crs_report.html


Just in case anyone is wondering who is the Congressional Research Service?

The Congressional Research Service is the public policy research arm of the United States Congress. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS works exclusively and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a confidential, nonpartisan basis.

http://www.loc.gov/crsinfo/whatscrs.html

[robinlynne]

1. whooee. one more piece in the puzzle. Great OP!

[opihimoimoi]

2. Bush looking more and more like Crap...if dat iz possible

[robinlynne]

3. Starfury I just sent the link to the orignal report to john Conyers. I think this is

an important rebuttle to the republican nonsense.

let's spread the word.
I'll email my senator.

[Starfury]

4. Great idea!

Conyers might already know (since he or his staff can just ask the CRS), but it's a great idea to make sure!

:toast:

[DearAbby]

5. Good idea and Kick

[Starfury]

6. Here's a link to the CRS report:

http://www.opencrs.com/document/RL33889/

Summary:

United States attorneys, who prosecute violations of federal law and defend the federal government in civil suits, are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and, once confirmed, serve four-year terms. The President may terminate the appointment of a U.S. attorney at any time. Recent controversy over the termination of seven U.S. attorneys, and the method by which the interim appointments were made to replace them, has focused attention on reasons for departure of U.S. attorneys. This report provides data on U.S. attorneys who did not complete their full fouryear term after confirmation by the Senate and whose terms did not carry over a change in presidential administration. The data collected employ records of presidential appointment and Senate confirmation of U.S. attorneys, and rely on secondary sources to provide information on reasons U.S. attorneys left office before completion of their four-year terms. At least 54 U.S. attorneys appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate left office before completion of a four-year term between 1981 and 2006 (not counting those whose tenure was interrupted by a change in presidential administration). Of those 54, 17 left to become Article III federal judges, one left to become a federal magistrate judge, six left to serve in other positions in the executive branch, four sought elective office, two left to serve in state government, one died, and 15 left to enter or return to private practice. Of the remaining eight U.S. attorneys who left before completing a four-year term without a change in presidential administration, two were apparently dismissed by the President, and three apparently resigned after news reports indicated they had engaged in questionable personal actions. No information was available on the three remaining U.S. attorneys who resigned. Interim U.S. attorneys are appointed by the Attorney General and serve until the President nominates, and the Senate confirms, a successor. Legislation has been introduced in the 110th Congress (H.R. 580; S. 214) to revert the system of appointment of interim U.S. attorneys to the system in place from 1986 to 2006. Under that system, the appointment of an interim U.S. attorney by the Attorney General expired after 120 days. After that appointment expired, district courts could appoint interim U.S. attorneys who could serve until the President nominated, and the Senate confirmed, a permanent replacement. This report will be updated as events warrant.

[kaal]

7. fantastic info...

I wish the focus returns to the cases pursued by the USA's...


Even more pressing in my opinion, are all the cases they pursued closed...?

[robinlynne]

8. no. they wouldn't do that so obviously, but the new prosecutors will do what they want....