Salon: Prosecutors Told Purge Was Political

It gets clearer and clearer: Salon reports that at least two of the federal prosecutors forced out in December were told by a senior Justice official that there was no other reason for their dismissal than to make room for another appointee. From Salon:

According to the former senior Justice Department official, one of the U.S. attorneys in the group was told by [Justice Department official Michael] Battle on Dec. 7: “It’s hard not to think you did something wrong when you get a call like this, but that’s not always the case.” Two other U.S. attorneys in the group, upon seeking clarification from superiors in Washington, were told by a different top Justice Department official that they were being pushed out to give other Bush appointees their posts. A current senior Justice Department official confirmed that one of those two was [U.S. Attorney Daniel] Bogden in Nevada.

Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney for New Mexico David Iglesias has confirmed that he wrote an email calling his firing a “political fragging.”

But maybe all this unwanted publicity has foiled the administration’s plans? Salon also reports that “some former Justice Department officials say they believe that the administration has since revised its plans to reward political loyalists with the jobs, due to the backlash against the decision to push out [U.S. Attorney Bud] Cummins in Arkansas and hand his post to [former aide to Karl Rove Tim] Griffin.” But that’s a habit likely to die hard. As McClatchy reported back in January, the administration has busily been installing administration loyalists all over the country over the past year.

I understand that there’s more coming on this story from McClatchy sometime soon. Stay tuned.