Tester Calls on Montana U.S. Attorney to Resign

[swag]

Source: Washington Post

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) called yesterday on a top Justice Department official to resign his U.S. attorney's post after revelations that he worked to alter federal law so that he and a handful of other senior aides could escape residency requirements that governed their assignments as federal prosecutors.

Since 2005, William W. Mercer has served as acting associate attorney general at Justice Department headquarters in Washington as well as being the U.S. attorney in Montana, where he spends just three days a month. That has drawn the anger of a Montana federal judge who contends that Mercer is violating a federal law that requires him to live in Montana.

The Washington Post reported yesterday that on the same day in November 2005 that Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales assured the judge that Mercer was in compliance with federal law, Mercer asked Senate aides for new legislation that would allow him and a few others to escape it.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/02/AR2007050202353.html?hpid=sec-nations

[Wetzelbill]

1. the moral of the story is, don't mess with chubby MT farm hicks...

because we can crack some skulls when necessary. And will. :)

[Fresh_Start]

2. Jon, reverse the change which allowed USA to be non-resident

get all of the USAs in the same condition out of office

[swag]

3. Feinstein is introducing legislation to bar USAs from living outside of their districts.

[Kolesar]

4. Won't President Beast just veto that bill? eom

[krkaufman]

8. Perhaps, but Rethugs will look very bad if they don't override a veto.

(would NOT look good to their constituents come election time; very straightforward issue)

[K8-EEE]

5. K&R, sheeesh, a scandal an hour for this crew!

Hard to keep up with it.

Swag, DARLING!! How are you doing?

[swag]

6. K8-EEE! Here's yesterday's background on this from tpmmuckraker,

in case you missed it:

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003129.php

One of the senior Justice Department officials involved in the firings is Bill Mercer, the U.S. Attorney for Montana who pulls double duty as the principal associate deputy attorney general in Washington, D.C. Well, I say double duty, but he really doesn't seem to spend much time as U.S. attorney: just three days per month, according to congressional testimony.

The chief judge in Mercer's district has been complaining about his absence for years, at one point berating him during a court hearing: "You have no credibility -- none.... Your office is a mess." And that judge did what he could to get Mercer thrown out, even writing to Alberto Gonzales in 2005 that Mercer was violating federal law by not living in the district of which he was supposedly U.S. attorney.

So what did Mercer do? He changed the law.

[donkeyotay]

11. Maybe this explains why Abramoff's buddy Conrad Burns

was never caught up in that alleged investigation.

[swag]

12. That's a thought.

[swag]

7. Oh, p.s. - how are all my favorite posters at that other place?

How's dear Daune holding up? Has he gotten hit in the head with any more boards lately? Is he still for the surge as long as it works?

[Boondog]

9. atta boy Jon! n/t

[formercia]

10. Case Law:

Gonzales' case law for roving USA's:

http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/aug/papr/du_roybean.html

Roy Bean's justice was not complicated by legalities; it was characterized by greed, prejudice, a little common sense and lots of colorful language. "It is the judgment of this court that you are hereby tried and convicted of illegally and unlawfully committing certain grave offenses against the peace and dignity of the State of Texas, particularly in my bailiwick," was a typical Bean ruling. "I fine you two dollars; then get the hell out of here and never show yourself in this court again. That's my rulin'."

One of Bean's most outrageous rulings occurred when an Irishman was accused of killing a Chinese worker. Friends of the accused threatened to destroy the Jersey Lilly if he was found guilty. Court in session, Bean browsed through his law book, turning page after page, searching for another legal precedent. Finally, rapping his pistol on the bar, he proclaimed, "Gentlemen, I find the law very explicit on murdering your fellow man, but there's nothing here about killing a Chinaman. Case dismissed."