Betty Richardson: Unprecedented firing of U.S. attorneys doesn't pass smell test

(The Idaho Statesman)

In high school civics, we learned that the American people didn't think much of President Franklin Roosevelt's 1937 plan to pack the U.S. Supreme Court with justices who would uphold his New Deal legislation.

A very popular president, Roosevelt was roundly criticized for trying to undermine the court's independence. The American people thought the president was injecting politics into the justice system — and they wouldn't stand for it. Even though Congress was overwhelmingly dominated by Roosevelt's Democratic Party, it got the message and defeated the "court-packing" plan.

Now, 70 years later, it appears that President Bush's firing of eight Republican U.S. attorneys is under scrutiny. The American people know that, once appointed, federal prosecutors, no less than judges, must leave partisan politics at the door. And they are understandably concerned that this administration may have missed that particular civics lesson.

U.S. attorneys are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the president. Thus, a president may terminate a U.S. attorney at any time.

However, some of the recently fired U.S. attorneys said they were let go because they wouldn't bow to partisan pressure in deciding what matters to prosecute. If even one of these U.S. attorneys was fired for that reason, it will take a toll on public confidence in the independence of federal law enforcement.

The White House argues that these firings are normal and ordinary. They are not. Both President Clinton and President George W. Bush made a wholesale dismissal of U.S. attorneys upon taking office. That was not remarkable; but the termination of eight U.S. attorneys appointed by a sitting president during the term of his administration is unprecedented.

The Congressional Research Service has reported that, of the 478 U.S. attorney confirmations made by the Senate over the 25 years from 1981 to 2006, only 10 left office involuntarily for reasons other than a change in administration.

All U.S. attorneys take an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic ...." That means enforcing the law without fear or favor, fairly and equitably. U.S. attorneys cannot make prosecutorial decisions based on partisan considerations and stay true to their oaths; and they should not have to violate their oaths in order to keep their jobs.

Ever since this troubling matter came to light, the Bush administration has bobbed and weaved, first refusing to answer questions, then offering Congress serial answers that have proved misleading and inconsistent.

Now the administration says it will allow high-ranking officials to talk to Congress about the firings, but only if they meet behind closed doors, without a record, and without taking an oath to tell the truth. All of this simply fails the smell test.

It is too early in the investigation to see the complete picture, but if the claims of the fired U.S. attorneys prove true, I trust the American people won't stand for it.

In 1993, Betty Richardson was nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve as U.S. attorney for the district of Idaho and was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

She served in that capacity until 2001 and is presently of counsel with the firm of Richardson & O'Leary PLLC in Boise.