How much scandal can Alberto Gonzalez bear? Seriously. As if the blowback from the Pearl Harbor Day Massacre wasn't enough, we find out today that the US Attorneys offices have been used politically to investigate and prosecute local Democrats at a dramatically higher rate than Republicans. The differences in the rates of investigation and prosecution are so vast that it is virtually statistically impossible that it isn't partisan.
The pushback from the Pearl Harbor Day Massacre, when eight Bush-appointed US Attorneys were purged for what is proving to be obvious political reasons, is showing no signs of abating. Those attorneys were replaced with party loyalists who did not have to face Senate confirmation because language was slipped into the PATRIOT Act that allows the administration to avoid that bit of accountability. In the interest of fighting terror, of course.
But now it comes out in the Friday News Dump™ that , by golly, that PATRIOT Act I just mentioned sure enough got abused, and used to snoop without just cause, just like a few of us and Russ Feingold said it would five years ago.
Oh - And they lied to Congress about it, right up until the Inspector General for the Justice Department did an audit and shined a light in that dark corner. The FBI underreported the number of instances they used National Security Letters, or demands for information about customers and clients without a judge's signature on a warrant, consistently.
Under the PATRIOT Act, the national security letters give the FBI authority to demand that telephone companies, Internet service providers, banks, credit bureaus and other businesses produce personal records about their customers and/or subscribers.
Here's a program for those playing along at home:
The scandal surrounding the purging of US Attorneys who were uncomfortable with overt partisanship continues to gain momentum.
The New Mexico Senator involved in improperly contacting U.S. Attorney Iglesias has retained Lee Blalack to represent him. Blalack isn't an Ethics attorney. He is a criminal defense attorney, and hiring him signals that Domenici is afraid of seeing the inside of a jail cell.
U.S. Attorneys have been prosecuting Republicans accused of wrongdoing at a much lower rate than Democrats, and it has been going on at the local level, "Below the CNN Line."
And now - that spying on Americans that some of us warned the PATRIOT Act would lead to - has happened.
It is time for Gonzalez to step down. The sheer number of scandals on his watch is simply inexplicable. Such extreme and egregious failures demand the resignation of the offending officer.
There's more:
"Another Day, Another Scandal..." >>
