Special prosecutor appointed to investigate US attorney firings

Last week, US Attorney General Michael Mukasey announced the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the 2006 firings of nine US attorneys by former Bush administration Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The appointment comes at the request of a Justice Department investigative report, which found that most of the attorneys were fired at least in part for political reasons. Seven of the nine were sacked without explanation on one day, December 7, 2006, exactly one month after the midterm general elections. Two more were forced out earlier in the year. The nine dismissals represented about one tenth of the 93 US attorneys in the country. Fifteen more were considered for dismissal. Though no official explanation was given for the purge, based on the timing and scale of the firings it was clear that the attorneys had... [read full story]