Top US prosecutors ‘forced out’

[sabra]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/5deb91f0-b169-11db-b901-0000779e2340.html

Top US prosecutors ‘forced out’

Democratic senators are fighting to halt what they say is a Bush administration campaign to remove forcibly top federal prosecutors, including the US attorneys responsible for key investigations of Congressional corruption and stock options back-dating.

Senator Patrick Leahy, the new chairman of the Judiciary Committee, will hold a hearing next week on whether the justice department is politicising the hiring and firing of top federal prosecutors.

Thirteen of the 93 US attorneys have left since the March 2006 passage of a little-noticed amendment to the Patriot Act that – in effect – allows President George W. Bush to install top prosecutors without Senate confirmation.

Departing attorneys include Kevin Ryan of San Francisco, who was leading the probes of stock options at Apple, and Carol Lam of San Diego, who prosecuted Republican congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham and was investigating a politically connected defence contractor.

[jwirr]

1. Okay, so what do we do to insure that *ss cannot replace them with

his criminals?

[Sadie5]

2. I will sign any petition

or whatever else it might take to stop this Bush criminal activity.

[rooney]

3. not one thing

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Interesting absence of due process for the prosecutors. n/t

[kestrel91316]

5. There is some good that can come out of this..................

my guess is that a lot of those honest, hardworking, dedicated, nonpartisan prosecutors were once Republicans, and because they have unjustly lost their jobs they probably aren't anymore...............

[AndyTiedye]

6. These Prosecutors Just Don't Understand. Some People Are Above the Law

They will be replaced by ones who understand this. :grr:

[rodeodance]

7. and Congress signed this over to bush when voting YES on Patriot ACT!!

Thirteen of the 93 US attorneys have left since the March 2006 passage of a little-noticed amendment to the Patriot Act that – in effect – allows President George W. Bush to install top prosecutors without Senate confirmation.

[Zodiak]

8. Harkin, Feingold, Byrd

The only three Democrats that did not vote for this piece of crap (or abstained).

The other 41 Democratic Senators put their ittle rubber stamp on a PATRIOT Act that they had not read....signing more power into the jaws of BushCo. Those 41 Senators had better be screaming about this issue because not only did they get punked, but so did this country.

The pukes of course, are guilty as sin and shouldn't even be allowed into the hallowed halls of Congress again. But there they are....smiling to themselves because they love their little dictator. And they challenge us to do anything about it.

[brentspeak]

11. Good catch. That's extremely important to note.

[cascadiance]

9. At least Carol Lam isn't going out like a "lamb"!

She's going out with a last hurrah in getting the likes of Brent Wilkes and Dusty Foggo indicted from the sounds of it. It sounds like they are going to be out any hour now!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2711990

[fidgeting wildly]

10. Thanks again, Patriot Act!

It's the gift that keeps on screwing us!

[Zorra]

12. Tell me again that Bu*h does not emulate Hitler, tell me lies, tell me sweet

little lies.
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:w1LdNDJeHiYxHM:pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/photos