This is from career lawyer at the Department of Justice, “civil appellate attorney with the Department of Justice since 1981”, in an op-ed for the Denver Post. (Has this guy resigned yet?)
As a longtime attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, I can honestly say that I have never been as ashamed of the department and government that I serve as I am at this time.
The public record now plainly demonstrates that both the DOJ and the government as a whole have been thoroughly politicized in a manner that is inappropriate, unethical and indeed unlawful. The unconscionable commutation of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s sentence, the misuse of warrantless investigative powers under the Patriot Act and the deplorable treatment of U.S. attorneys all point to an unmistakable pattern of abuse.
It goes on. Is impeachment — of Gonzales, at the very least — really out of the question? John Kerry (eg.) wouldn’t answer that question when we talked to him. It seems like the least Congress ought to be talking about. Currently, there’s no accountability for any of these clowns.
(ht: TPMMuckraker)
If AUSA Koppel hasn’t resigned by now, I hope he’s ready to retire. Must have been a fun Monday for him back in the office this week.
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Nothing about this USA scandal (the only possible word for the whole situation, including, among others, the hiring, firing, and case management processes) surprises me anymore, and I can’t really think about it for too long without going a little crazy.
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I was just thinking again today about James Comey’s chilling testimony a couple of months back in regard to the whole situation, including the shocking bedside visit to get a delirious John Ashcroft to reauthorize the warrantless wiretapping program:
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“I don’t know that there’s any window you can go to, to get the department’s reputation back, if that kind of stuff is going on…”
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http://www.npr.org/t…
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Which would be pretty much okay, if more than a little scandalous, if we were talking about, say, the RMV or FEMA or DHS or whatever. But this is the Department of Justice, Justice with a capital J, perhaps the most highly respected and aggressively non-partisan federal agency–they share a job with Superman, people!–now forever reduced to suspicions of base-kissing hackery (Monica Goodling was doing a heckuva job, no?) and prosecutorial partisanship.
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We’d always suspected the Bushies couldn’t quite get their minds around the concept, but their disdain for American democratic values (including, most critically, prosecutorial independence) demonstrates that justice (and, for that matter, Justice) just isn’t their bag.
the drummer for Soundgarden?
for the first time on DVD, and recognized Chris Cornell’s voice in the opening credit sequence. Nice to see the comeback.
but i don’t miss the prank calls from back when i was listed in the Seattle metro area phone book.