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Favored U.S. Attorneys Pull Double Duty
The Washington Post today reports on how the Justice Department under Alberto Gonzales has placed six of its 93 U.S. attorneys in top positions at the department.
The meat of the piece has to do with canned U.S. attorney David Iglesias. One of the department's cover stories for firing him, remember, was that he was an "absentee landlord." As department official William Moschella told Congress last month: "Quite frankly, U.S. attorneys are hired to run the office, not their first assistants."
Well, not only are there six U.S. attorneys who are absent from their offices full-time, but one of them is Bill Mercer -- the U.S. Attorney for Montana, the acting Associate Attorney General, and an architect of the purge.
Iglesias was gone from his office 45 days each year to do his Navy reserve duty. As I noted last week, the Office of Special Counsel has launched an investigation into whether Iglesias was wrongfully terminated.
But Mercer is gone all the time -- giving the chief judge in his district, Judge Donald W. Molloy fits:
Molloy wrote a letter to Gonzales in October 2005 demanding that Mercer be replaced.Molloy wrote that Mercer's absence had led to "a lack of leadership" in the Montana office and created "untoward difficulties for the court" and for career prosecutors. The judge also questioned whether Mercer complied with residency requirements.
Gonzales wrote back the next month that Mercer was handling both jobs admirably, and suggested that Mercer's absence would be short-lived.
Relations between Mercer and Molloy have not improved since. Molloy berated Mercer during a court hearing last year, accusing him of bringing weak cases to court to pump up statistics and telling him: "You have no credibility -- none."
"Your lawyers are not getting their briefs in on time," Molloy said. "You're in Washington, D.C., and you ought to be here in Montana doing your work. Your office is a mess."
"Performance related." Ha.
Comments (27)
Wolfie wrote on April 10, 2007 9:57 AM:Why does the Bush admin ***hate*** military personell so badly?
jeffgee wrote on April 10, 2007 10:08 AM:But Mercer's a loyal Bushie. 'Nuff said.
tbhull wrote on April 10, 2007 10:17 AM:Gonzales should show up for his April 17th testimony in a Bozo outfit. Alternatively, gonzo could appear for his testimony wearing only a leather mask like the gimp in Pulp Fiction and wrestling trunks pulled up to high. If the latter, Orrin Hatch may get a bit overheated.
Jeremy wrote on April 10, 2007 10:18 AM:There's a good piece on Mercer over at epluribusmedia.
Note how much fun this is:
Mercer made national headlines when two of the "resigned" U.S. Attorneys -- Daniel Bogden of Nevada and Paul Charlton of Arizona -- testified before a Congressional Subcommittee that they had spoken with him regarding their dismissals.
Bogden testified that Mercer had explained to him that the Administration had a "very short, two year window of opportunity concerning the United States attorney positions". He also testified to the committee that Mercer told him "this would be an opportunity to put others into those positions so they could build their résumés and get experience as an United States attorney so that for future possibilities of being federal judges or other political type positions, they could be better enhanced to do so."
Mercer was telling them this WHILE HE WAS SQUATTING on the Montana USA job at the same time as he was serving as Associate Attorney General. Apparently he's going to keep camping there until he's confirmed.
Now... why would he want to keep that particular seat warm himself?
Previously, in 2005, Mercer had come under fire by both Montana's state Democratic Party and Judge Molloy for perceived conflicts of interest resulting from his simultaneous appointments as U.S. Attorney for Montana and Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General in Washington, D.C.
Andy G wrote on April 10, 2007 10:18 AM:The Chairman of the State Democratic Party wrote him a letter criticizing his failure to investigate the widely publicized potential involvement of (former) Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) with Jack Abramoff
Ah.....
And apparently Nina Totenburg picked up on the Abramoff connection on NPR this morning...
Has any administration been more hypocritical? As long as I've been involved in politics I've never seen this much hypocrisy in any one place. It's been a part-time job for me to digest this stuff and talk to my right wing acquaintances about it, letting them know what's really going on.
For example, I had a conversation the other day that went like this:
Me: What do you think about Pelosi going to Syria?
Mom: You know I hate it.
Me: You didn't hate it when Gengrich went blah blah blah blah Hastert blah blah blah Columbia blah blah etc.
Mom: ...
It's people like y'all who do the research who make those conversations so easy. Thank you so very much.
SLOUCH wrote on April 10, 2007 10:24 AM:THANK GOD someone finally noticed this one. I've been shouting about Mercer for months.
While we're at it, why not dig into former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot's connection to the scandal, as he's the former head of Bush/Cheney '04, the RNC, and he's one of the main targets of Waxman's probe into the RNC emails.
Richard L. Adlof wrote on April 10, 2007 10:32 AM:To sum up: Mercer gets two bites at the Federal salary apple and pooches both jobs royally.
Inquiry: Does this mean that we will hear "Heck of a job, Billy. Heck of a job, Billy." just before his face hits the pavement OR will he be getting two Medals of Freedom?
Arkansan wrote on April 10, 2007 10:38 AM:"Has any administration been more hypocritical? "
It may not be hypocrisy so much as frank criminal behavior. For example, the guy who burglarized my house last weekend was arrested later at his own home. There were witnesses, DNA and fingerprint evidence left at the crime scene, not to mention my stolen wedding album was on his coffee table. There are no doubts the police have their guy. But before the burglar leaves his own house, he let the guard dog out of its kennel and set his own burglar alarm. Mr. B also vehemently denies his guilt all the way through the sentencing phase of his trial.
Mr. B isn’t a hypocrite when he sets the alarm, or when he lies about his crime. He’s just a run of the mill crook and liar working hard to keep his own, while at the same time doing his best to keep his sorry ass out of jail.
No difference.
Maybe the question should be, has any administration been more criminal?
mbbsdphil wrote on April 10, 2007 10:40 AM:Why is not gross incompetence in the administration of Justice adequate to remove Mr. Gonzales? I realize that Mr. Gonzales is doing precisely what Mr. Bush wants. And that Mr. Bush's comfort depends on his appointing managers less skilled than he is, which takes quite a search. But why is this considered just politiics? Why does it get a yawn from the MSM? Why is that not an outrage even among politicians?
The barest oversight of the DOJ has shown a reckless disregard for staffing, team building, relations with courts and investigators (without which USA's could not do their jobs), juggling of resources, or prosecution of cases based on the harm to society of the underlying behavior, rather than the political benefit to the party in power.
Like FEMA, Bush has turned a competent organization essential to a peaceful society into one built on public relations-excused lies and naked hunger for advancement. Come to think of it, that describes the US Government under George Bush.
B lueIsland wrote on April 10, 2007 10:42 AM:Charles P Rosenberg, aka "Chuck" Rosenberg, of the Eastern District of Virginia, is also mentioned in the WaPo piece. He is listed in FindLaw as being a bar member in Pennsylvania as of 1990; Virginia bar record not mentioned. Rosenberg replaced McNulty (yes, that McNulty) in 2006. In the Virginian-Pilot, March 21, 2007, writer Tim McGlone reports
davcbr wrote on April 10, 2007 10:42 AM:"Rosenberg, who ... has strong Republican ties, served as counsel to both John Ashcroft,....E-mails released this week indicate that Rosenberg, too, has had discussions with McNulty about the performance of other prosecutors.
In an e-mail to McNulty, Rosenberg said other U.S. attorneys 'are chagrined and embarrassed” over a letter written by former U.S. Attorney John McKay – one of the fired prosecutors – and “are probably happy to let him take the heat.'"
The perfect fit for the Gonzales gang.
It's really pretty easy. All he has to do is go AWOL and then have his dad smooth the ruffled feathers.
HudsonDC wrote on April 10, 2007 10:43 AM:Note the point in the WAPO story that Iglesias has filed a discrimination complaint alleging that he was fired because of his absences for military duty.
Diane wrote on April 10, 2007 10:55 AM:Does anyone know if they were also getting "double salaries" to go along with their extra duties? I know that's not a critical part of the story but I think it would be interesting, and this mess is cumulative....
Slideguy wrote on April 10, 2007 10:55 AM:The irony is that Iglesias was potentially pure gold had the Repbulican party not been taken over by a criminal conspiracy. He was a Republican. Smart, capable, hard-working, honest, patriotic, handsome and a member of a minority. Oh, and a practicing Christian. The kind of guy who'd have made, dare I say it, a great presidential candidate. But there's no room for that kind of guy in today's GOP.
mbbsdphil wrote on April 10, 2007 10:58 AM:Note that the USA system is going critical, the EO of the USA's is understaffed by two - including its director - but that someone at DOJ thinks that instead of restoring confidence among USA's, it's more important to send one of those remaining managers to Minnesota full-time in order to help incompetent USA Rachel Paulose avoid sinking her own ship.
Never mind the criminals that go free and the civil rights that go undefended.
This is about covering the backsides of Mr. Rove and Mr. Bush, and leaving the USA's as bruised as possible. What better gift to give yourself, when what you want most is a USA team unable to go after you and your friends, once you are all out of office.
Clavis wrote on April 10, 2007 11:03 AM:Is there any part of the government that the Cheney Administration *hasn't* utterly corrupted and discredited?
It'll be so nice when the Christian mullahs turn America into a theocracy and the free speech necessary for me to hear about these scandals is declared illegal. Then I can remain ignorant and happy!
Security code: bent
Money Trail wrote on April 10, 2007 11:21 AM:USA Chris Chistie in NJ just indicted a State Senator (Dem, of course) for getting a couple of government no-show jobs that inflated his salary, but more importantly, his government pension credits.
I wonder if our friend squating in Montana is in for the same finanical windfall. And for that mater, who else in the DOJ or the other parts of the executive branch have followed this practice.
From the badlands of New Mexico wrote on April 10, 2007 11:23 AM:Go to www.marioburgos.com and see the NM GOP's latest attempt to add "evidence" to the case of the "absentee landlord" claim against Iglesias. The writer of the blog is VERY active in the NM GOP and served as the delegate to the 2006 Republican National Convention from this state. The latest entry " FOIA Request - David Iglesias" is quite fascinating.
ice weasel wrote on April 10, 2007 11:41 AM:These reports need to keep being reported but that said, the expressions of surprise should end. I stopped being surprised at this administration about four years ago. Frankly, little has changed, just more of their malfaesance has come to light. But it's all the same.
Surprise would indicate something unusual, such as competence, honesty and dedication to something more than Dear Leader.
jeffgee wrote on April 10, 2007 12:10 PM:The whole US Attorney scandal is more proof that Rove knows he can't win elections without cheating and rigging the game in every way imaginable.
Anonymous wrote on April 10, 2007 12:49 PM:The only performance problem the fired USAs had was unwillingness to perform political favors for Karl Rove at the expense of justice.
Coyoteville wrote on April 10, 2007 2:21 PM:They are NOT getting two salaries. Their "permanent" position is as the USA back in their state; they are "acting" in their DOJ DC jobs (since some require Senate confirmation).
Ironically, one of the six mentioned is Patrick Fitzgerald, who USA in Chicago, and acting special prosecutor in DC. He, at least, can handle the double responsibility, which is more than the guy from Montana seems to be able to.
wls wrote on April 10, 2007 4:04 PM:Mercer does not get two salaries while serving as US Attorney and in an acting capacity at Main Justice.
And, the WaPo article doesn't go to the trouble of explaining what it was that Mercer was doing in Washington, even though its not a secret and could have been discovered with a couple of phone calls.
Mercer was tasked with the job of forming the new National Security Division that was created by Congress with the passage of the Patriot Act Reauhtorization, based on a recommendation for one of the post-9/11 Commissions.
The National Security Division was created by taking the Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Espionage Sections out of the Criminal Division, and joining them up with the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review, the principal responsibility of which was to oversee DOJ work with the FISA court and the intelligence agencies. The new National Security Divsion has 4 sections, and a total of about 250 employees.
The job of forming up such a new -- and critically important -- component of DOJ would go to the Dep. AG's office. But, in July 2005, James Comey resigned as Deputy AG, and Paul McNulty wasn't selected as Acting Dep. AG pending his confirmation until Nov. 2005. McNulty was confirmed as Dep.AG in March 2006.
During the period of July 2005 to Nov. 2005, Mercer served as de facto Dep. AG and started the process of getting the new National Security Division organized so it would be able to be up and running when Congress appropriated a budget to it.
That's what Mercer was doing while spending time away from Montana.
Anything else you rubes need to be updated on?
js wrote on April 10, 2007 4:24 PM:No double salary, as stated, however, the per diem and housing allowance is a very, very nice deal.
wls wrote on April 10, 2007 5:23 PM:Per diem and temporary housing reimbursement are set by regulation and go alonw with any temporary relocation of duty station. Mercer's entitlement to this assistance would end if Mercer were confirmed in the new position at Main Justice.
Also, there is some limit on how much an employee gets in temporary housing and per diem when they are drawing a full salary from another position. I've got a friend on an 18 month detail to DOJ right now that is in the same position. Since the detail is temporary, and he will be returning to his home, the temporary housing allowance is designed to help him rent an apartment while he is in DC without having to sell his house in the city he intends to return to when his detail is ended.
georgia wrote on April 17, 2007 2:29 PM:missed this post last week.
Mercer displayed his "loyal Bushie" colors before Congress in 2004, giving his position on "Blakely":
http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=1260&wit_id=3657
His ability to parse and misinterpret legal issues probably turned Gonzo onto him.
georgia wrote on April 17, 2007 2:40 PM:It's also interesting to note that Mercer chaired the AGAC Sentencing Guidelines Subcommittee.
In May 2005, the DAG, James Comey, appointed Mercer to serve as the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, where he served until he was replaced by William Moscella (yeah, that Will Moschella) in October of 2006. Mercer went on to serve (unconfirmed) as the Acting Associate Attorney General.