Interesting Angle: Navy Reserve Duty May Have Cost U.S. Attorney (Iglesias) His Job

[WillyT]

I can't decide if this is further embarrassment for the administration, or the start\continuation of a cover story.

<snip>

(CNN) -- A federal watchdog agency is investigating whether one of the U.S. attorneys fired in a Justice Department shakeup was punished for missing work to serve in the Navy Reserve, the ex-prosecutor said Wednesday.

David Iglesias, who was the U.S. attorney for New Mexico until February, told CNN that an official in the Office of Special Counsel approached him shortly before his testimony to Congress about the firings in early March.

Among other duties, the office is charged with protecting the job rights of National Guard and Reserve members, some of whom are called away from employers for long periods of time.

Iglesias was one of eight U.S. attorneys fired in a round of dismissals last December. Though all are political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the president, the Justice Department's initial description of the firings as "performance-related" triggered allegations of improper political influence on pending cases and calls for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign.

Iglesias is a captain in the Navy Reserve and estimated that he spent 40 to 45 days a year on duty, including weekends. He was cited as "absentee landlord" in a Justice Department document laying out reasons for the lawyers' dismissals.

"That was suspicious in and of itself, because virtually all of my time away from the office has been on official government business -- probably 75 percent military and 25 percent DOJ ," he said.

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act bars employers from taking action against National Guard and Reserve members based on their military service and allows them to reclaim their jobs after periods of active duty or training. Violating the act is a civil matter with possible remedies including reinstatement -- "which I'm not interested in," Iglesias said -- or back pay.

<snip>

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/04/fired.attorneys/

:shrug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. He could sue them

seriously, he could

God these boys really are incapable at times

[Kagemusha]

2. It's best for the admin if the investigation says, it's just a cover story

If it's just politics there's nothing even potentially to sue over.

And I'm not convinced that the law applies to a job that's at the pleasure of the President so to speak. But it shouldn't get to that point anyway - it's just a stupid lie.