In early 2005, Gonzales deemed impractical a suggestion to fire all 93 US Attorneys. However, he later agreed, conceptually, to a more surgical purge.
The purge wasn't initiated until after the White House got the Senate Judiciary Committee to slip a change into the conference report on the Patriot Act Reauthorization.
Once the news about the firings broke in January, the Gonzales Department of Justice began scrambling for an explanation, especially since mid-term firings are so unprecedented.
Yes, the US Attorney position is a political appointment. But the legal community insists that partisan politics have no place in subsequent personnel decisions ... and Congressmen aren't supposed to pressure US Attorneys, either.
Gonzales takes the heat for how the firings were communicated, but he still contends that they were the right thing to do and that they were not politically motivated.
Once the news about the firings broke in January, the Gonzales Department of Justice began scrambling for an explanation, especially since mid-term firings are so unprecedented.
Yes, the US Attorney position is a political appointment. But the legal community insists that partisan politics have no place in subsequent personnel decisions ... and Congressmen aren't supposed to pressure US Attorneys, either.
Gonzales takes the heat for how the firings were communicated, but he still contends that they were the right thing to do and that they were not politically motivated.