Vindication

Somehow I overlooked this op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times yesterday. I'm glad I went back to the site. Written by David Iglesias, one of the US Attorneys fired by the Bush Justice Department in its version of the Saturday Night Massacre, the column is a strong statement of the injustice done to those nine US Attorneys and to the American justice system in general.

After the public release of the most recent internal investigations, it can no longer be said that there are mere "allegations" of improper politicization but rather, now, official findings of fact. Justice was compromised. Not only were my colleagues and I not insulated from politics -- as we should have been in our jobs as prosecutors -- but we were fired for the most partisan of reasons. In my case, it was because powerful Republicans in Congress and the White House believed that I had not done my duty as a Republican to bring criminal charges against Democrats in the run-up to the 2006 elections.

Our firings were just one part of the scandal. Another investigation, released over the summer, showed that the department's "honors program" for young law school graduates was the victim of illegal political screening. Lots of bright young applicants were turned away from career jobs because they answered questions in a way that was considered politically suspect or, in some cases, because they had listed organizations thought too liberal or Democratic for the neocons at main Justice.

Then came the findings that career immigration judges were similarly screened for their political views. Career federal prosecutors also were screened, in yet another violation of the law.

Clearly there was a systematic and concerted effort on the part of the Bush administration to remove any last vestige of independence and actual justice at the Justice Department and replace both with party loyalty at all costs. The Justice Department became Bush's private law firm, and at even the slightest hint of disloyalty to the goals mandated by the White House to further the agenda, career attorneys were dismissed and replaced by party hacks.

And that is why Attorney General Mukasey's appointment of a prosecutor to continue the investigation is so crucial. Mr. Iglesias agrees:

I strongly support the appointment of a prosecutor to investigate whether criminal laws were violated by members of Congress, White House officials or former leaders of the Justice Department. I hope the newly appointed counsel is able to subpoena evidence that was denied to the inspector general's office.

So far, the White House has refused all such subpoenas, but perhaps a Grand Jury might have more luck. I certainly hope so, for the very reason Mr. Iglesias notes in his elegant conclusion:

If the rule of law means anything, it means that all are subject to it. Prosecutors, operating independently and in a nonpartisan manner, are the cornerstone of our criminal justice system. Take that away and you are sprinting down the road to perdition.