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Don't blame Kyle Sampson for the administration's decision to fire seven United States Attorneys in the middle of their terms. The Attorney General's chief of staff may be this week's fall guy in the investigation of the firing of the prosecutors, but he was only doing what he knows how to do: He was doing politics.
Kyle Sampson never worked as a prosecutor. He was barely out of law school when he came to Washington in 1999 to work for Sen. Orrin Hatch on the Judiciary Committee as a junior aide. From there, it was just a short step to the transition staff, where he put his newly gained knowledge of the nomination process to work in screening candidates with far more experience than he for jobs in the judiciary and the Justice Department.
Then it was on to the White House staff, then to the Justice Department under John Ashcroft, then to a job as a "senior" aide to the new Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales. Barely seven years after arriving in Washington with almost no experience, Mr. Sampson was the chief of staff to the Attorney General, and deep in the process of replacing federal prosecutors.
As he rose through the ranks, Mr. Sampson decided that he himself should be a U.S. Attorney. Why not? He had the connections. Who needs experience? He lobbied hard for the job, and it was only because his former boss Senator Hatch was supporting another candidate that Mr. Sampson's hopes were derailed.
Mr. Sampson's career gave him no reason to view federal prosecutors as different from any other presidential appointees. When Harriet Miers, Gonzales' replacement as White House counsel, suggested a mass firing of all 93 U.S. Attorneys, Sampson's response was not that it would be inappropriate and wrong, but only that it would cause such disruption that it would be better to proceed in a piecemeal manner. "First, a limited number could be targeted for removal and replacement," he suggested in response.
It would be convenient to argue that prosecutors should be above politics, but it's not really true. The president appoints United States Attorneys. You don't get the job on merit alone. In practice, connections tend to count as much, or more, than credentials. The job requires its holder to exercise discretion about issues of policy, as well as facts and law, and the president has every right to prefer those who agree with him to those who don't.
But it's not the same as being regional director of the EPA or Social Security. Prosecutors have life-and-death power over people's lives. They are political appointees, but they are also officers of the court. Their obligation is not to win, but to do justice. Getting the job may be political, but doing it should not be.
Good prosecutors understand this. The criminal justice system depends on both the reality and the appearance of fairness. Republicans are not supposed to favor their own and target their opponents for prosecution -- not even if they owe their jobs to the GOP. Everyone is supposed to be equal in the eyes of the prosecutor.
Political people, understandably, tend to find this kind of impartiality weird and frustrating. It is, to put it mildly, utterly at odds with the way business is done in Washington. If you're a political person, you expect your friends -- that is, those you've given jobs to -- to help you, not hurt you.
Every administration has problems with the prosecutors they appoint. They moan and groan. They complain. Independence is not a highly valued trait in Washington political circles.
The people in charge are supposed to know enough to ignore them.
It's the Attorney General's job to stand up to those complaints, not to give in to them. It's his job to protect his prosecutors, not to turn them into political prey. His aides may not have the standing to say no to the White House, but the Attorney General does. He should have used that standing here.
Kyle Sampson is a young man who learned politics quickly, and did it too well. Someone needed to tell him what he didn't know: that politics and prosecutors are a volatile mix, to be handled with care.
To find out more about Susan Estrich and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2007 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.
Kyle Sampson never worked as a prosecutor. He was barely out of law school when he came to Washington in 1999 to work for Sen. Orrin Hatch on the Judiciary Committee as a junior aide. From there, it was just a short step to the transition staff, where he put his newly gained knowledge of the nomination process to work in screening candidates with far more experience than he for jobs in the judiciary and the Justice Department.
Then it was on to the White House staff, then to the Justice Department under John Ashcroft, then to a job as a "senior" aide to the new Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales. Barely seven years after arriving in Washington with almost no experience, Mr. Sampson was the chief of staff to the Attorney General, and deep in the process of replacing federal prosecutors.
As he rose through the ranks, Mr. Sampson decided that he himself should be a U.S. Attorney. Why not? He had the connections. Who needs experience? He lobbied hard for the job, and it was only because his former boss Senator Hatch was supporting another candidate that Mr. Sampson's hopes were derailed.
Mr. Sampson's career gave him no reason to view federal prosecutors as different from any other presidential appointees. When Harriet Miers, Gonzales' replacement as White House counsel, suggested a mass firing of all 93 U.S. Attorneys, Sampson's response was not that it would be inappropriate and wrong, but only that it would cause such disruption that it would be better to proceed in a piecemeal manner. "First, a limited number could be targeted for removal and replacement," he suggested in response.
It would be convenient to argue that prosecutors should be above politics, but it's not really true. The president appoints United States Attorneys. You don't get the job on merit alone. In practice, connections tend to count as much, or more, than credentials. The job requires its holder to exercise discretion about issues of policy, as well as facts and law, and the president has every right to prefer those who agree with him to those who don't.
But it's not the same as being regional director of the EPA or Social Security. Prosecutors have life-and-death power over people's lives. They are political appointees, but they are also officers of the court. Their obligation is not to win, but to do justice. Getting the job may be political, but doing it should not be.
Good prosecutors understand this. The criminal justice system depends on both the reality and the appearance of fairness. Republicans are not supposed to favor their own and target their opponents for prosecution -- not even if they owe their jobs to the GOP. Everyone is supposed to be equal in the eyes of the prosecutor.
Political people, understandably, tend to find this kind of impartiality weird and frustrating. It is, to put it mildly, utterly at odds with the way business is done in Washington. If you're a political person, you expect your friends -- that is, those you've given jobs to -- to help you, not hurt you.
Every administration has problems with the prosecutors they appoint. They moan and groan. They complain. Independence is not a highly valued trait in Washington political circles.
The people in charge are supposed to know enough to ignore them.
It's the Attorney General's job to stand up to those complaints, not to give in to them. It's his job to protect his prosecutors, not to turn them into political prey. His aides may not have the standing to say no to the White House, but the Attorney General does. He should have used that standing here.
Kyle Sampson is a young man who learned politics quickly, and did it too well. Someone needed to tell him what he didn't know: that politics and prosecutors are a volatile mix, to be handled with care.
To find out more about Susan Estrich and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2007 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.