A lot of noise about not a lot: US attorneys

Many pearls have been abused over

The Trump administration acted abruptly Friday to force out the remaining U.S. attorneys who had not already stepped down.

yet

"On the issue of Clinton [U.S. attorneys], we called each one and had them give us a timeframe. Most were gone by late April. In contrast, Clinton [Justice Department] told all but a dozen in early March to be gone immediately," McNulty said.

The difference appears minor. Both McNulty and Sampson acknowledged that the Bush administration, like the Clinton administration, brought in a new slate of U.S. attorneys within a few months of taking office.

But historical data compiled by the Senate show the pattern going back to President Reagan.

Reagan replaced 89 of the 93 U.S. attorneys in his first two years in office. President Clinton had 89 new U.S. attorneys in his first two years, and President Bush had 88 new U.S. attorneys in his first two years.

In a similar vein, the Justice Department recently supplied Congress with a district-by-district listing of U.S. attorneys who served prior to the Bush administration.

The list shows that in 1981, Reagan's first year in office, 71 of 93 districts had new U.S. attorneys. In 1993, Clinton's first year, 80 of 93 districts had new U.S. attorneys.

In my opinion if you find one scandalous, you find all of them scandalous.

The politicization of the judiciary is scandalous in itself, but has received wide bipartisan support for a very long time. SCOTUS being more political than constitutional doesn't seem to worry many at all.

All that the winning of the US Presidential election seems to mean to the party faithful is that now one of "theirs" can be appointed for life and for the good of the party. It wasn't Hillary that mattered, it was the empty seat on SCOTUS that was primordial.

I am really having trouble in understanding what motivates these people, I must have broken my party politically tinted glasses at some point.

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boriscleto's picture

He refused to resign...

Probably the most effective US Attorney in the last 40 years at putting away corrupt officials, Democrat & Republican...

So obviously he had to go.

IIRC Obama only got rid of like 8 of W's US Attorneys in the first year. Further proof that he was a Republican all along.

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

@boriscleto @boriscleto

I expect that we’ll have an announcement in the next couple of weeks with regard to our first batch of U.S attorneys," Holder said Thursday during a House Judiciary Committee hearing which stretched out over most of the day due to breaks for members' votes. "One of the things that we didn’t want to do was to disrupt the continuity of the offices and pull people out of positions where we thought there might be a danger that that might have on the continuity--the effectiveness of the offices.But...elections matter--it is our intention to have the U.S. Attorneys that are selected by President Obama in place as quickly as they can."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2009/05/obama-to-replace-u...

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boriscleto's picture

@LaFeminista Doesn't want a functional Justice Department...

Or EPA, or State Department, etc.

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

@boriscleto list for decades.

The effect is in the end the same, the rich can pillage with greater ease. Until something nasty affects enough people that will be the duopoly's main strategy.

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@boriscleto

Wasn't the State Department (among others) still staffed with Clinton picks covering for her?

It is discouraging, though, that since Reagan, US administrations have been apparently more concerned with amenable attorneys than with administrations being concerned about retaining capable and competent legal staff with integrity. Yes, I still have unicorn dreams... and no, not surprised...

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

@boriscleto it seems in terms of the banksters all he did was get fines out of them. No criminal prosecutions. Here is my source for list of his supposed biggest cases.

http://www.businessinsider.com/preet-bharara-trump-fired-high-profile-ca...

I dunno, wasn't one of the hits on the Obama administration that he and Holder failed to hold the banksters criminally accountable? And in terms of the fines, tax-deductible I think.

Just some more:

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Settles Civil Fraud Claims Against HSBC Bank For Failure To Monitor Fees Submitted For Foreclosure-Related Services
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-settles-civil...

Same story as above:

HSBC settles U.S. fraud charges over foreclosure fees
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-hsbc-settlement-foreclosures-idUSKBN0F...

I see words like "fraud" in these articles indicating a crime, but no criminal prosecutions.

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riverlover's picture

Not sure about the ethics involved, but let him sing.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

MarilynW's picture

I'm not sure what he did when first elected but the big scandal was firing his own appointees, US attorneys who disagreed with him. Now that was a scandal.

#45 called Bharara to the Trump tower to specifically ask him to stay and then 4 months later tells him to leave. That's a betrayal anyway you look at it. Bharara is likely too good for 45's administration. As someone here pointed out, Bannon does not want efficient government.

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To thine own self be true.