Mass firing of prosecutors fails sniff test

Could this be the issue that finally gets the Democrats' fire lighted?

Back on December 7, a fair number of federal prosecutors were fired on supposed "performance issues." It now turns out that the dismissals may have been politically motivated -- i.e. the White House wanted them gone because they weren't "aggressive enough" in enforcing Bush Administration policies.

There's no question it is the duty of the executive to ensure laws are enforced. But it is another matter entirely when one picks and chooses which laws are going to be followed (such as Bush's record number of "signing statements" where he signs a law but indicates he won't execute them because they're unconstitutional and bind the executive in a manner the legislature is not supposed to).

One can appreciate a firing if a prosecutor is not performing "up to grade." But aren't there well established public service standards for that? One would kind of expect a district attorney or his or her assistants to exercise due diligence in trying to figure out what cases are worth taking to court, which ones stand at least a reasonable chance of getting a conviction. He or she shouldn't just get a ham sandwich indictment because he or she is told to. Moreover, DAs are rarely fired in the middle of an executive's term -- they serve at pleasure, of course, but usually changes are made when a new executive comes into office.

The White House readily admits they should have warned lawmakers that a large number of prosecutors were being given their pink slips and the optics in hindsight look bad. Tell me something I don't know. Now the Democrats are demanding hearings and will sub poena the fired DAs to hear their side of the story. I was under the impression that only in rare cases would the executive directly get involved in prosecuting people -- that for the most part district attorneys would be given a certain amount of free reign. Guess that's another truth that's too inconvenient for the President who would be King.

Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.