Bush Administration Fires Seven U.S. Attorneys for Political Reasons
President George W. Bush’s administration on this day fired seven U.S. Attorneys who were in positions around the country, largely for political reasons. Several of the attorneys, in fact, had received outstanding job performance ratings.
The firings were almost always made because local Republicans had objected to a particular case or enforcement priorities of the local U.S. Attorney. The firings generated a major scandal over the politicization of the Justice Department.
Paralleling this scandal were revelations that the same Bush administration had improperly used political criteria in the hiring of staff attorneys in the Justice Department. The entire affair was evidence of President Bush’s violations of civil liberties on domestic policies as well as in the war on terrorism.
On President George W. Bush and civil liberties, see: Samuel Walker, Presidents and Civil Liberties From Wilson to Obama (2012)
Learn about President Bush and the Religious Right: Esther Kaplan, With God on Their Side: George W. Bush and the Religious Right
Read: David Corn, The Lies of George W. Bush