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http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/A...ory/706763.html
Posted on Mon, Sep. 29, 2008
Prosecutor will investigate firings of nine U.S. Attorneys
By MARISA TAYLOR AND GREG GORDON
Attorney General Michael Mukasey agreed Monday to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other officials involved in the firings of nine U.S. attorneys broke the law.
The move comes at the request of Justice Department's Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility, who in a report released Monday detailed "substantial evidence" that partisan politics played a role in several of the ousters.
Gonzales "abdicated his responsibility to safeguard the integrity and independence of the department," said a statement from Inspector General Glenn Fine's office.
Mukasey appointed acting veteran federal prosecutor and acting Connecticut U.S. attorney Nora Dannehy to oversee the inquiry, virtually guaranteeing that the 18-month investigation will continue into the next administration.
Several of the prosecutors who were fired said they were pleased that the investigation would continue despite resistance from some administration officials.
"This report corroborates what my colleagues and I have been saying for the last 18 months: that the basis for our removal was improper, wrongful and now possibly criminal," said David Iglesias, the ousted U.S. attorney in New Mexico.
Fine and H. Marshall Jarrett, the head of the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility found the removal of Iglesias to be the most "troubling" example of the department inappropriately weighing political considerations....
Posted on Mon, Sep. 29, 2008
Prosecutor will investigate firings of nine U.S. Attorneys
By MARISA TAYLOR AND GREG GORDON
Attorney General Michael Mukasey agreed Monday to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other officials involved in the firings of nine U.S. attorneys broke the law.
The move comes at the request of Justice Department's Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility, who in a report released Monday detailed "substantial evidence" that partisan politics played a role in several of the ousters.
Gonzales "abdicated his responsibility to safeguard the integrity and independence of the department," said a statement from Inspector General Glenn Fine's office.
Mukasey appointed acting veteran federal prosecutor and acting Connecticut U.S. attorney Nora Dannehy to oversee the inquiry, virtually guaranteeing that the 18-month investigation will continue into the next administration.
Several of the prosecutors who were fired said they were pleased that the investigation would continue despite resistance from some administration officials.
"This report corroborates what my colleagues and I have been saying for the last 18 months: that the basis for our removal was improper, wrongful and now possibly criminal," said David Iglesias, the ousted U.S. attorney in New Mexico.
Fine and H. Marshall Jarrett, the head of the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility found the removal of Iglesias to be the most "troubling" example of the department inappropriately weighing political considerations....
What's gotten into Mukasey?
