reality-based educator

Here's one interesting piece of info from last night's prosecutor purge document dump:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - While Patrick Fitzgerald was prosecuting the CIA leak case, his name appeared on a Justice Department chart that was the first step in an effort to identify U.S. attorneys who should be removed, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The Justice Department ranking of Fitzgerald, which was sent to the White House in March 2005, listed him among prosecutors who had "not distinguished themselves" and put him below "strong U.S. attorneys . . . who exhibited loyalty" to the administration, but above "weak U.S. attorneys who ... chafed against administration initiatives, etc.," the Post said, citing Justice documents.

The Justice Department on Monday night delivered to Congress 3,000 pages of documents related to the dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys.

The reference to Fitzgerald was part of a memo that the department has refused to turn over to Congress, the Post reported, citing officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Critics say the Bush administration fired the prosecutors to make room for Republican allies. Democrats say the attorneys angered powerful Republicans, partly by pursuing corruption probes against Republican lawmakers, and that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales fired them in retaliation.

Fitzgerald's investigation resulted in the perjury conviction this month of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff.

...

The Post said documents show two prosecutors who received the same Justice Department ranking as Fitzgerald were later fired, although the ranking did not mean they were recommended for removal at the time. Two prosecutors who got high rating were later fired.

I'm sure we'll learn some more from the documents as the day progresses.

I'm also sure that there's a good chance the administration held back some of the emails and internal documents that show what REALLY was going on.

And before somebody says I'm jumping to conclusions based upon my enmity for the administration, let me remind you about all their previous lies and mistruths - from the bullshit they spun for the Iraq war to the horseshit science they've pushed to show global warming doesn't exist - and say that they no longer deserve the benefit of the doubt on ANYTHING.