New York Times Editorial: More Evidence of a Scandal

New York Times Editorial: More Evidence of a Scandal
Copyright by the New York Times
Published: August 12, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/opinion/13thu2.html?ref=opinion


Documents released by Congress, including testimony from Karl Rove, offer powerful new evidence that the Bush administration fired top prosecutors who refused to use their offices to promote the electoral fortunes of Republicans.

Turning law enforcement into a tool of partisan politics is a serious offense, and a Justice Department investigation is under way. Congress must also continue its investigation and call Mr. Rove and others to testify publicly so the American people can hear for themselves how the justice system was hijacked.

The materials released on Tuesday paint an ugly picture of fair-minded prosecutors under siege by the White House for refusing to politicize their offices. And it puts Mr. Rove, former President George W. Bush’s chief political operative, at the center of it.

Some of the most disturbing revelations concern the firing of David Iglesias, the United States attorney in New Mexico. He was put on a list to be fired shortly after a White House aide complained to Mr. Rove that Mr. Iglesias was not doing enough — including refusing to bring politically useful public corruption cases — to help Heather Wilson, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, fend off a Democratic challenger in the 2006 election.

Harriet Miers, a White House counsel under Mr. Bush, told investigators that an “agitated” Mr. Rove called her before the election to say that Mr. Iglesias was a serious problem, and he wanted something done. Mr. Iglesias had received high marks from the Justice Department for the quality of his work.

Other documents suggest that Todd Graves, the United States attorney in Kansas City, Mo., was fired as part of a White House deal with Senator Christopher Bond, a Republican who wanted Mr. Graves out, and that the White House leaned on the Justice Department to influence an F.B.I. investigation of Representative Rick Renzi, a Republican.

John Conyers, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, deserves credit for energetically pursuing the investigation that turned up these documents and for insisting that Mr. Rove and Ms. Miers submit to interviews, despite the Bush administration’s spurious claims of executive privilege.

Nora Dannehy, a federal prosecutor in Connecticut, is leading the separate investigation for the Justice Department. She could bring criminal charges against the officials responsible for the firings if she finds that they were done to obstruct justice or for other illegal reasons. Ms. Dannehy, who has the power not only to subpoena but to indict, is in the best position to learn all of the facts and ensure that justice is done.