Gonzales’s Critics See Lasting, Improper Ties to White House

[spindrifter]

By ERIC LIPTON and DAVID JOHNSTON
Published: March 15, 2007
NYT

<snip>

Unease over Mr. Gonzales’s management began almost from the start, said former prosecutors, some of whom left voluntarily.

Mr. Gonzales, a former Texas Supreme Court judge who had never worked as a prosecutor, chose as a deputy Paul J. McNulty, who had been a United States attorney in Virginia, but had worked for Republicans in Congress for more than a decade and took over the job with less experience as a prosecutor than his predecessor, James B. Comey.

Their leadership stirred concerns that they did not understand the historic discretion United States attorneys have had in making decisions about what cases to pursue, or were sufficiently vigilant about preventing political interference, the former officials said.

“United States attorneys should cooperate with the department and should enforce the priorities of the department,” a former prosecutor said. “But they also need to be in tune with the needs of their district and should fight for their districts. They should not simply be ‘yes’ men for Washington. There is more pressure to toe the line for D.C. now.”

<more>

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/15/washington/15justice.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

1. Basically, the Bush Jr. administration has run the government like the worst stereotype of

a corrupt third world dictatorship.