In December 2006, eight United States attorneys were asked by top officials at the Justice Department to resign. The firings drew little notice at the time, but have grown into the most heated point of contention between the Bush administration and the Democrats now in control of Congress outside of the Iraq war.
A string of high-level Justice Department officials have resigned, members of both parties have called for Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales's dismissal, and subpoenas issued by the House and Senate judiciary committees for testimony by White House aides have raised the prospect of a constitutional showdown.
The administration initially described the dismissals as having been purely on the basis of performance -- Mr. Gonzales dismissed the whole issue as "an overblown personnel matter." But the official explanations of the handling of the matter changed repeatedly as the ousted prosecutors came forward to recount their experiences, and batches of emails released by the Justice Department showed extensive discussions between officials there and in the White House.
Republicans, while criticizing the manner in which Mr. Gonzales has responded to the issue, have stressed that prosecutors have always served at the pleasure of the president and are political appointees. Democrats, along with some Republicans and retired prosecutors, have charged that the Bush administration was attempting to politicize the justice system by infringing on the traditional autonomy accorded to United States attorneys, who are expected to act in a nonpartisan manner once they are confirmed.
News about United States attorneys, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.
A string of high-level Justice Department officials have resigned, members of both parties have called for Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales's dismissal, and subpoenas issued by the House and Senate judiciary committees for testimony by White House aides have raised the prospect of a constitutional showdown.
The administration initially described the dismissals as having been purely on the basis of performance -- Mr. Gonzales dismissed the whole issue as "an overblown personnel matter." But the official explanations of the handling of the matter changed repeatedly as the ousted prosecutors came forward to recount their experiences, and batches of emails released by the Justice Department showed extensive discussions between officials there and in the White House.
Republicans, while criticizing the manner in which Mr. Gonzales has responded to the issue, have stressed that prosecutors have always served at the pleasure of the president and are political appointees. Democrats, along with some Republicans and retired prosecutors, have charged that the Bush administration was attempting to politicize the justice system by infringing on the traditional autonomy accorded to United States attorneys, who are expected to act in a nonpartisan manner once they are confirmed.
News about United States attorneys, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.
Wonder why Rove left?
