Comey: Lam Was a "Fine" U.S. Attorney

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http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003143.php

Comey: Lam Was a "Fine" U.S. Attorney
By Paul Kiel - May 3, 2007, 11:30 AM

Former Deputy Attorney General James Comey just shot down one of the Justice Department's talking points for why U.S. Atttorney for San Diego Carol Lam was fired.

The department has repeatedly touted Lam's relatively low gun prosecution numbers as one of the reasons for her firing. DoJ official William Moschella told the House Judiciary Committee last month that Lam "only beat out Guam and the Virgin Islands" in terms of gun prosecutons -- leaving the impression that Lam had fallen down on the job.

But as Comey testified today, such numbers "tell you nothing" about how the U.S. attorney is doing. Comey cited his own experience as U.S. Attorney for Manhattan, where his own office's numbers had dipped due to the fact that the local prosecutor was handling a large number of gun prosecutions, making it unnecessary for his own office to do so -- which was Lam's case with the district attorney in San Diego.

As Lam has pointed out, the violent crime rate in San Diego fell to its lowest point in 25 years while she was U.S. attorney there.

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