Politicizing the Judiciary

TPM Muckraker:

Over the weekend, the Justice Department finally turned over performance evaluations for six of the fired U.S. attorneys to the Senate Judiciary Committee. And as The New York Times reported over the weekend, they were all positive, ranging from “well regarded" to “very competent.”

That's upset already angry Dems on the committee, who threatened action if they found out the prosecutors had been well rated. In a letter sent late yesterday to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) wrote that "these reports only serve to fuel my concerns that the Department of Justice based its decisions to fire competent and successful U.S. Attorneys because of a desire to put young politically-connected lawyers from the outside into these offices."

She attached the reports to her letter and called on Reid and McConnell to bring a bill, sponsored by Feinstein and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), that would force the administration to seek Senate confirmation of U.S. attorneys, or otherwise face having replacements appointed by a federal judge.

Click the link to read Sen. Feinstein's letter.