Something very fishy has been going on in the Bush "Justice" Department. Using a little known provision slipped into the US Patriot Act, Bush has been firing US attorneys and replacing them with political friends - bypassing normal Senate confirmation. One of his choices, who formerly worked under Karl Rove, decided not to play along. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:
Griffin on Thursday blamed “the partisanship that has been exhibited by Sen. [Mark ] Pryor [D-Ark. ] and other senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee in the recent hearing” for his decision to bow out.
He referred to a hearing last week on Capitol Hill on legislation proposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and supported by Pryor, as well as Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and others, to reinstate the original language governing such appointments.
The legislation was proposed after at least seven U. S. attorneys across the country were ousted to make room for Republican political allies. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty acknowledged in the hearing that in Arkansas, Cummins was forced out simply to make room for Griffin.
