Amerikan Politics As Usual
We seem to recall that US attorneys have been dismissed in other locations as well. Perhaps BushCo has honed it (Amerikan politics) to a fine art.
U.S. Attorney: 'I was ordered to resign'
By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Write
SEATTLE - Former U.S. Attorney John McKay said his resignation was ordered by the Bush administration without explanation seven months after he received a favorable job evaluation.
"I was ordered to resign as U.S. attorney on Dec. 7 by the Justice Department," McKay said Wednesday in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C. "I was given no explanation. I certainly was told of no performance issues."
McKay, who had led the Justice Department's Western Washington office, previously said only that he was resigning because it was time for him to move on.
His comments came one day after Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty acknowledged to the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Justice Department had fired seven U.S. attorneys in the West in the past year, most of them for "performance-related" reasons he would not divulge.
The dismissals have been heavily criticized by Democratic lawmakers and others.
"John McKay has worked diligently for our region and it is deeply disconcerting that he could have been let go for political reasons," said Sen. Patty Murray (news, bio, voting record), D-Wash.
Robert Lasnik, the chief federal judge for the Western District of Washington, said he and fellow judges could not understand the firing and were dismayed that the Justice Department implied there was anything wrong with McKay's performance.
"This is unanimous among the judges: John McKay was a superb U.S. attorney," Lasnik said. "For the Justice Department to suggest otherwise is just not fair."
All U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president and may be dismissed for any reason, or no reason at all.
Read the rest here.
