Rising Tally of Alleged US Attorney Firing Targets
Remember when the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, possibly as part of a political purge, was an issue in ongoing Congressional committee hearings? Now it appears that the correct number of federal prosecutors targeted for dismissal could be nine, ten or – if other shoes are yet to drop – even more. Plus, the political issues that allegedly may have led to their departure reportedly might include, in one case, too aggressively pursuing the still-unsolved assassination of a federal prosecutor.
Published reports including a New York Times editorial name Debra Wong Yang, of Los Angeles, who left office voluntarily, and, as discussed in ABAJournal.com posts today and earlier this week, Todd Graves, of Kansas City, Mo., as possible targets of politically motivated efforts to remove them from office so that they could be replaced with prosecutors more friendly to Republican party priorities.
Meanwhile, recent press accounts, rounded up in this Atlantic Monthly article, suggest that Seattle’s dismissed U.S. Attorney, John McKay, first fell into disfavor when he too aggressively pursued an investigation into the murder of Tom Wales, shot through a window as he sat at his desk working at home one night. A disgruntled defendant reportedly was at least initially a suspect in his 2001 murder.
In addition to Graves, McKay and Yang, other U.S. attorney names in the news that may come up at Congressional hearings scheduled tomorrow and next week are the remaining seven dismissed prosecutors, Daniel G. Bogden of Las Vegas, Paul K. Charlton of Arizona, Margaret M. Chiara of Grand Rapids, Mich., Bud Cummins of Little Rock. David C. Iglesias of New Mexico, Carol C. Lam of San Diego and Kevin V. Ryan of San Francisco.
