Of course, nothing was improper. Usually the Senate Judiciary Committee takes time out of their busy schedule to listen to testimony when nothing improper has occurred. First and foremost, it is important to point out that these terminations are not entirely politically motivated because six of the U.S. attorneys are Republicans. However, the Bush administration is clearly lying by stating that these dismissals are based on performance. In fact, when you examine the backgrounds of these attorneys, the water appears more than just a little cloudy.
- Although he recently received a positive job review ("very competent and highly regarded") in 2006, Bud Cummins, a Republican, was investigating the accusation that Missouri Gov. Matthew Blunt, also a Republican, abused his power by creating a system of umbrella companies established through a Kansas City law firm to operate Missouri's licensing network.
- Described in her last review as "an effective manager and respected leader", Carol Lam successfully prosecuted former Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA) for corruption and indicted Kyle Fuggo (former Executive Director of the Central Intelligence Agency) for fraud and other offenses in regards to the Cunningham case, as well as indicting Brent Wilkes (a defense contractor and lobbyist) for his illegal involvement with Cunningham and other scandals. Lam was also investigating Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), the former Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, for various improprieties.
- According to his recent review, David Iglesias, a Republican, was "respected by the judiciary, agencies and staff". In addition, he was previously praised by the Justice Department for his expertise in the area of voter fraud by the Justice Department. As a matter of fact, he was twice selected to train other federal prosecutors on pursuing election crimes.
- Seven months before he was forced to resign, John McKay, a Republican, received a glowing performance review from a team of 27 Justice Department officials, being called "an effective, well regarded and capable leader". McKay was also recognized for his successful prosecution of terrorist Ahmed Ressam and his promotion and management of a computer network used to coordinate numerous law enforcement agencies, for which he received the highest civilian honor from the United States Navy.
- Despite his most recent review being categorized as "very positive", Daniel Bogden investigated former Rep. James Gibbons (now Republican Governor of Nevada) for accepting unreported payments and gifts from a friend whose software company Gibbons aided in securing secret military contracts during his tenure in Congress.
- The office of Paul Charlton was honored with the Federal Service Award and recognized by the Justice Department as a "model program" regarding the protection of crime victims, along with ranking among the top 20 offices for drug prosecutions. Among the 93 U.S. attorneys, Charlton himself ranked last year in the top third in the highest amount of filed federal prosecutions (as well as convictions) and among the top 10 in the amount of weapons related prosecutions, while managing a district in the top five in the amount of immigration related prosecutions. Unfortunately for Charlton, a Republican, he had started a corruption investigation against Rep. Richard Renzi (R-AZ) and disagreed with the Bush administration on the death penalty and the recording of interviews and confessions on Native American reservations.
- In a 2006 review, Margaret Chiara, a Republican, was depicted as "classy, distinguished and well regarded". During her tenure, the jurisdiction witnessed a 15% increase in felony prosecutions and convictions. Chiara also developed an attorney training and mentoring program which now serves as a national model.
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