McClatchy has yet another US Attorneys scoop:
The Justice Department last year considered firing two U.S. attorneys in Florida and Colorado, states where allegations of voter fraud and countercharges of voter intimidation have flown in recent years, congressional investigators have learned.
That brings to nine the number of battleground election states where the Bush administration set out to replace some of the nation's top prosecutors. In at least seven states, it now appears, U.S. attorneys were fired or considered for firing as Republicans in those states urged investigations or prosecutions of alleged Democratic voter fraud.The two prosecutors who were targeted were Gregory Miller, the U.S. attorney for the northern district of Florida in Tallahassee, and Bill Leone, the former acting U.S. attorney for Colorado.
Miller appeared on multiple target lists for possible firing from early 2005 through last November, according to a senior congressional aide familiar with Justice Department documents. Miller kept his job.
The congressional aide spoke to McClatchy Newspapers on condition of anonymity because the documents haven't been made public. The Justice Department is allowing congressional investigators only to inspect the documents, not make photocopies or take notes.
The Justice Department declined to discuss either case.
In a brief telephone interview, Miller said he had no inkling that he'd been considered for firing.
"You're telling me something I didn't know," Miller said. "I never heard of any concerns from the administration."
Miller was a career federal prosecutor who'd served as an assistant U.S. attorney and an interim U.S. attorney. President Bush nominated him for the permanent U.S. attorney position in early 2002. Last fall, the Justice Department awarded Miller and his office with a "superior performance in public service" award for its work in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Miller said the department never singled him out for his office's handling of any controversial case, including voter fraud. "I've never been given direction as to my handling of voter fraud," he added. "I've never heard anything from Washington about my performance in that regard."
Of course he had no idea he was on the list. That's how this whole thing worked.
UPDATE: Josh reads the article to the end and finds a deeply buried lede:
A U.S. attorney in Minnesota, who disagreed with the Justice Department on a case involving voting rolls, was asked to resign early last year.
That would make 10.
UPDATE II: Oh, to hell with incrementalism. Let's just call it 26 and be done with it.
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