"WASHINGTON - Eight federal prosecutors were fired last year because they did not sufficiently support President Bush's priorities, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former chief of staff maintains, but a powerful Senate chairman called that motivation improper.
"It corrodes the public's trust in our system of justice. It's wrong," Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said as he gaveled open a hearing featuring the sworn testimony of Kyle Sampson, who quit the Justice Department over the furor.
But Sampson maintained that it's legitimate to judge federal prosecutors in large part on their fidelity to administration policy. He denied Democratic charges that the firings were a purge by intimidation and a warning to the remaining prosecutors to fall into line."
Both of them are correct. As I mentioned here--the executive both on the right and left has historically tried to stack the deck with judges who will support their policies. And yes, Leahy is right to say that it "corrodes the public's trust in our system of justice," but in all honesty--has the 'public' ever had a 'trust in the system'? Fact is, in the big picture what happened here was something politically common place, just as much as tax fraud or bribery is common in industry, but he was caught. Too bad, game over, but enjoy the consolation prize AG! No time spent, and a great job either on the lecture circuit or CEO of...whatever.
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