In Arkansas, Search on for Griffin Replacement

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Last month, Tim Griffin, the former aide to Karl Rove who was installed as the United States Attorney for Arkansas’ Eastern District in December, announced that he would not be seeking Senate confirmation for the job. Submitting his name to the Senate, he said, would ” be like volunteering to stand in front of a firing squad in the middle of a three-ring circus.”

But as a number of sharp-eyed readers pointed out, Griffin doesn’t need Senate confirmation to remain in his position until the end of President Bush’s term — thanks to a change in the law slipped into the PATRIOT Act reauthorization bill last year.

Nevertheless, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Rep. John Boozman (R-AR), who’s in charge of nominating Griffin’s replacement, is working on it — although it doesn’t sound like there’s much urgency:

Boozman’s press secretary, Ryan James, said Thursday that the congressman and his staff “are having conversations, and they’re going through names now. They’re just looking at possibilities. They haven’t come up with a list they would give to the White House, but the process is under way.” James described the discussion sessions as “a series of mini-meetings.” He said Boozman “hasn’t indicated, as such, a certain time line,” for developing an initial or final list, but noted that Boozman has a good relationship with both Pryor and Lincoln, and talks with each of them regularly.

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