Gonzales to Dems: Forget It
Thirty-one Senate Democrats have asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to step aside in the Abramoff scandal. The Attorney General refused, saying “we’ve got career prosecutors involved in this investigation as we do in all investigations; these are folks that are not motivated by any political agenda.”
“FBI officials have said the Abramoff investigation ‘involves systemic corruption within the highest levels of government,’” the Democrats wrote in a letter to Gonzales. “In light of your previous service as White House Counsel and your close connection to many Administration officials, the appearance of conflict looms large.”
This is a ploy intended to either get another Patrick Fitzgerald-like ‘investigation’ or to use Gonzales’ refusal as a campaign issue. Thankfully, Gonzales refused. Congress let the independant counsel statute lapse because accountability was nonexistent.
It’s also time for politicians to stop the politicization of investigations. It’s time for someone like Attorney General Gonzales to say that career prosecutors would lead the investigation and that the work will speak for itself. This seems like a healthier approach to investigations to me for a couple reasons.
1) If this or a future administration tries thwarting an investigation, they can be held accountable, something that can’t be done in a Fitzgerald situation.
2) Getting an independant prosecutor doesn’t guarantee objectivity. Look at Fitzgerald’s ‘investigation’ as proof.
He was assigned to see if the Intelligence Identities Protection Act had been violated in the Plame case. He didn’t even bother to start with the basic step of finding out if Plame was covered by that statute or the Espionage Act. He didn’t bother checking to see if the CIA was attempting to keep her identity protected. He even went so far as to not subpoena reporters that said that her identity was common knowledge. If that isn’t bad enough, he bought Joe Wilson’s story lock, stock and barrel.
Fitzgerald isn’t the only loose cannon with an unlimited budget. Who can forget Lawrence Walsh sabotaging the first Bush presidency by indicting former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger the week before the election? What was the rush in filing the indictment? If this indictment wasn’t politically motivated, why didn’t he file the indictment after the election?
By comparison, career prosecutors can’t be fired very easily because they’ve got civil service protection. They’re the last people that can be influenced or bought, an attractive trait in a prosecutor or investigator.
Based on these two ‘independant’ investigations alone and the positive qualities of a career prosecutor leading the investigation, can anyone say that ‘independant investigations’ are the best investigations and serve the American people the best? I can’t.
Cross-post at LetFreedomRing