An enlarging scandal at Justice
THE SUSPICION that partisan politics motivated at least some of the Bush administration's firings of eight US attorneys sharpened this week. Former Justice Department aide Kyle Sampson told the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday that "the distinction between political and performance-related reasons for removing a US attorney is, in my view, largely artificial." If senators accept this state of affairs, they should close down their inquiry into the purge and accept a new reality: that US attorneys are not objective enforcers of the laws but part of a president's political machine -- 93 Karl Roves with prosecutorial powers.
But if the committee rejects that, it should explore further two major disclosures by Sampson. One was that, contrary to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's past denial of involvement in the sackings, Gonzales conferred with Sampson several times about them. Confirmation of his falsehood strengthens the case for Gonzales's resignation.
The other revelation by Sampson was that Rove, President Bush's top political adviser, approached Gonzales about three of the US attorneys who were canned. One of them was ultimately replaced by an aide to Rove. The Senate should move quickly to get Rove to testify before it -- under oath, with a transcript -- even if this requires a subpoena.
Yes, all US attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president, who has a right to set an agenda for law enforcement. To explain the unprecedented mid-administration firings, Bush officials have asserted the attorneys were not carrying out the president's priorities. Yet the evidence shows otherwise.
The US attorney in San Diego, Carol Lam, was investigating corruption by Republicans and got her pink slip the day after she notified the Justice Department that her probe would include Jerry Lewis, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Sampson said Lam fell short by not enforcing immigration laws aggressively enough. But as California Senator Dianne Feinstein pointed out, Lam's handling of immigration cases had drawn plaudits from Justice and the Border Patrol. Sampson had to admit that no one from Justice ever informed Lam of any problem with her work on immigration.
US Attorney David Iglesias in New Mexico was so highly regarded by Justice that he was being considered for a job at headquarters -- until last fall, when Republican elected officials in his state complained to the Bush administration he was not energetic enough in pursuing vote fraud allegations against Democrats. That got Iglesias on the hit list.
If it is true that not just Gonzales but Rove -- two close Bush associates -- were involved in the firings, that raises questions about the role of the president himself. If justice has been politicized, bringing Rove before the committee will clarify just how much. 