Freedom and Justice for All: Republican Leaders Not Above the Law

I often like to employ the use of snark in my columns.  For the uninitiated, “snark” is defined as being critical in an annoying, sarcastic or wisecracking way.  Certainly a few of my critics would agree with the “annoying” part (cue troll from Swiftee in 3…2…1….) 

But today, I’m declaring this column a snark-free zone, because I do not want anyone thinking that this column is sarcastic, hyperbolic or anything less than 100 percent serious.  Hopefully, by next week I can get back to being sarcastic.  I wouldn’t want to get away from it for too long. 

more inside
The Bush administration has not been known for its open, honest and welcoming attitude toward its political rivals.  In general, this administration has sought to harm its opponents at every turn, using everything from the attacks on 9/11 to the Iraq war to education policy as bludgeons designed to hit their opponents, hard and relentlessly. 

But recent revelations regarding the relationship between the Bush administration’s Justice Department and the various U.S. Attorneys indicate that the Bush administration has long ago passed a dangerous line between using policy as a weapon and using the levers of government themselves as weapons.  In doing so, the administration undermines more than a century of bipartisan agreement on the sanctity of the judicial system and the independence of prosecutors from the political arena. 
For those who have not been following closely, let me refresh what has happened thus far.  Earlier this year, the White House dismissed eight U.S. Attorneys across the country, citing incompetence in their offices.  Unfortunately, many of the attorneys had received glowing reviews just months before, and reasons for firing attorneys seemed haphazard at best.  Some were punished for focusing too much on immigration-related crimes and not enough on political scandal.  Some were punished for focusing too much on political scandal and not enough on immigration-related crimes.  At least one attorney in Arkansas was let go to make room for a protege of Karl Rove. 

Needless to say, all this raised more questions than it answered.  And so Congress — as of January no longer a wholly owned subsidiary of the Republican party — subpoenaed the attorneys to testify as to why they were fired.  And to a person, they testified that they were fired because they were not being aggressive enough in going after Democrats.  David Iglesias, the U.S. Attorney for New Mexico, testified that he’d been pressured to speed along a specific investigation in order to bring indictments before the 2006 general election.  According to Iglesias, both Sen. Pete Domineci and Rep. Heather Wilson, both of New Mexico, had pressured him to speed his investigation.  (Both admitted they’d had contact with Iglesias to check on the progress of the cases, but said their intent was not to pressure.)

Now, you may dismiss that as sour grapes from dismissed attorneys, but here’s where things get very, very ugly.  In a McClatchy News report over the weekend, the chair of the New Mexico Republican party, Allen Weh, stated flatly that he had lobbied the White House directly to fire Iglesias.  According to Weh, he asked Karl Rove, “Is anything ever going to happen to that guy?”

Rove responded, “He’s gone.”

Corruption is a serious thing, and though I lean left, I will freely admit that there are bad actors in both parties in relatively equal proportion.  And this is borne out by the fact that investigations of national Democrats and Republicans during the Bush administration have been, overall, about equal.  But investigations of local parties and individuals are radically skewed.  Of 375 cases studied, 298 involved Democrats, while only 67 involved Republicans.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude that Democrats are under a bit more scrutiny than Republicans, especially at levels where national reporters might not be looking.

But let’s say that all 298 of those Democrats are legitimate targets of investigation.  Those investigations must be judicious, thorough, and fair, not just to ensure that innocent people aren’t prosecuted, but to ensure that guilty people are convicted. 

The Republican party — not just the Bush administration, but the entire party down to the state level — decided to ignore that basic premise and chose to instead push prosecutors to charge people in a timely fashion.  Not to ensure that they didn’t get away with something, but to ensure that cases were filed in time to help the GOP electorally. 

That’s a perversion of the independent justice system that we as a nation have worked so hard to build, and it calls into question the rule of law itself. 

A prosecutor’s first duty is not to her party, nor is it to convict wrongdoers, nor is it even to the Constitution.  A prosecutor’s first duty is to justice.  To prosecute based on the law and only the law.  To base decisions of whether or not to investigate someone not on political concerns but on legal ones.  The Bush administration punished eight prosecutors who chose to put their duty to justice first, above the demands of the right-hand man to the President of the United States, if not the President himself. 

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove have proven that they have no respect for our country or its founding document.  For attempting to use the judicial system as a blunt-force tool against their enemies, those two should tender their resignations immediately.

If not, they should be impeached.