The extent to which this administration is ethically challenged is still breathtaking...<br><br>
"More than a year before the Bush administration has said it first considered firing US attorneys, a top Justice Department official asked lawyers to determine how the administration could temporarily fill vacant US attorney positions with appointees who had not been confirmed by the Senate.<br><br>
"In a September 2003 memo, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, which answers legal questions for the president and his appointees, described a way to install a replacement US attorney who could serve up to 330 days without Senate confirmation.<br><br>
"But the memo also said that any appointee would eventually still have to win confirmation from the Senate or be approved by a federal court to continue serving. Two years later, the administration <span style="text-decoration:underline;">quietly got a provision inserted into the USA Patriot Act reauthorization bill</span> giving itself the power to <b>permanently appoin</b>t replacement US attorneys <b>without Senate or court approval</b>."<br><br>
More here:<br><a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/28/memo_describes_installing_unconfirmed_prosecutors?mode=PF" target="_blank">http://www.boston.com/news/nation/wa...cutors?mode=PF</a>
"More than a year before the Bush administration has said it first considered firing US attorneys, a top Justice Department official asked lawyers to determine how the administration could temporarily fill vacant US attorney positions with appointees who had not been confirmed by the Senate.<br><br>
"In a September 2003 memo, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, which answers legal questions for the president and his appointees, described a way to install a replacement US attorney who could serve up to 330 days without Senate confirmation.<br><br>
"But the memo also said that any appointee would eventually still have to win confirmation from the Senate or be approved by a federal court to continue serving. Two years later, the administration <span style="text-decoration:underline;">quietly got a provision inserted into the USA Patriot Act reauthorization bill</span> giving itself the power to <b>permanently appoin</b>t replacement US attorneys <b>without Senate or court approval</b>."<br><br>
More here:<br><a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/28/memo_describes_installing_unconfirmed_prosecutors?mode=PF" target="_blank">http://www.boston.com/news/nation/wa...cutors?mode=PF</a>
