Thursday, May 10, 2007

Kansas City's U.S. attorney makes #9 in the scandal

By Diane Silver

Kansas City's Todd Graves was pushed out for being too independent? Seems so. He was pushed out to bring in someone to try to sway the Missouri Senate race? Quite possible.

Talking Points Memo has the latest.

The New York Times editorializes:
Mr. (Brad) Schlozman’s short stint in Missouri — he left after about a year — appears to be another case of the Bush administration’s politicizing federal prosecutors’ offices. Mr. Graves was reportedly on a list to be fired, and clues are emerging about why. He said this week that when he interviewed for the job, he was asked to name one attribute that describes him. “I said independent,” he said. “Apparently, that was the wrong attribute.”

The Kansas City Star reports that concerns in Sen. Kit Bond's office about a controversial fee system may have played a role in Graves departure, but then the same article quotes Bond's office as saying, well no, those concerns had nothing to do with it. And oh yes, there was no wrongdoing, as proven by an investigation.

The Washington Post reports on why Graves firing and its timing is important.

After reviewing all of this, I have to say that my trust in the Department of Justice is certainly at an all-time low.

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