I may disagree philosophically with the vote cast by Senator Bond, but I respect his reasoning, and I certainly have no truck with his communications director who got back to me after 5:00 p.m. with his statement on the vote:
"I agree 100 percent that politics should not play a role in how a
prosecutor decides what cases to bring or how to argue a case before a
judge, but I also believe that the Constitution got it right.
Presidents, subject to Senate confirmation, should have the power to
nominate their prosecutors. If we elect a President to be tough on
crime, or go after terrorists, we expect his or her prosecutors to share
those commitments and not pursue their own unelected agenda."
"I voted to repeal the special Patriot Act provision for U.S. Attorneys. But I did not want the deck stacked against defendants with
judge-appointed prosecutors, so I supported using the existing law
already covering every other appointee, which is the deputy serves
temporarily until the President nominates and the Senate confirms a
successor."
"We shouldn't punt to judges the duty the constitution assigns to the
President and Senate."
Shana Marchio
Communications Director
Senator Kit Bond (R-MO)
I still disagree, but I can certainly see the Senator's point, and I thank him for making the statement and I thank Ms. Marchio for responding to my request after hours.
