Josh Marshall has found yet another little noticed provision slipped into the USA Patriot Act back in 2005, and once again it looks like it was designed specifically to allow AG Gonzales to further politicize the Department. Setting aside residency requirements may seem like a minor issue, but as Paul Kiel explains, it is not.
On the one hand, U.S. attorney David Iglesias, was supposedly fired for being an "absentee landlord" even though his absences were due directly to his service in the Navy Reserve. On the other, the USA for Montana, Bill Mercer, works in DC as Gonzales' Associate Attorney General on a near-full time basis, leaving a District Judge in Montana to complain that his absence is creating serious problems for the administration of justice in his district. Amazing how these people can be so consistently inconsistent.
But back to the Patriot Act. Given the way the reauthorization was handled, I've long suspected that the Act was filled with all kinds of unnecessary provisions, some of which no doubt are unconstitutional. It really would be great if someone could go back through the Act to find out what else is hidden away in there. Seems like a perfect project for the blogosphere, no?
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