White House Backs Down on U.S. Attorney Nomination

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I blogged yesterday about the controversial, and seemingly politically motivated, firing of several U.S. Attorneys. The most egregious of 7-10 cases is that of H.E. Cummings III of Arkansas. Mr. Cummings was let go, according to Alberto Gonzalez’s deputy, to make room for J. Timothy Griffin, who had served as a political director for the Republican National Committee and a deputy to none other than Karl Rove. (In print, Mr. Griffin is “J. Timothy,” but when the White House talks about what a great guy he is, they call him “Tim.”)

The White House has finally realized that its claim that this was standard personnel management ain’t gonna fly and has agreed not to nominate Mr. Griffin as a permanent replacement for Mr. Cummings. (He will, however, remain as a temporary replacement.)

Now this is the kind of stuff that wouldn’t even have made the papers if the Dems weren’t in power, and for that we are duly grateful.

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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