Gonzales Appoints New Deputy Attorney General

[babylonsister]

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003721.php

Gonzales Appoints New Deputy Attorney General
By Paul Kiel - July 18, 2007, 2:47 PM

Today, the Justice Department announced that Craig S. Morford, currently the interim U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, will eventually replace Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty as the acting deputy. McNulty announced earlier this year that he'll be gone by late summer or until the administration names a successor.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, however, has signaled that it won't confirm any senior Justice Department appointees until it gets the documents and testimony it wants from the White House. So it's unclear when (if ever) Morford will take McNulty's place.

Morford has something of a high-profile background -- he led the prosecution of former Rep. James Trafficant (D-OH) and the Department's 2004 internal review of how prosecutors handled the case of three men accused of being part of a terrorist "sleeper cell" in the Detroit area.

[livvy]

1. Some interesting sites dealing with Morford.

THE MOST SERIOUS AMERICAN
POLITICAL CRIME SINCE WATERGATE

Investigators from the DOJ Office of the Inspector General instructed me to contact you personally with this complaint about criminal misconduct by a Cleveland prosecutor, Assistant US Attorney:

Craig S. Morford

In his sworn testimony to Congress, my neighbor Richard Detore described Morford as what must be the Justice Department’s worst nightmare ...

... a celebrity-stalking rogue prosecutor who plea-bargained and immunized perjured felons like Ohio lobbyist J.J. Cafaro ... and then dispatched those felons to Capitol Hill to ‘suicide bomb’ DOJ's harshest critic: flamboyant Rep. James A. Traficant, Jr. of Ohio.

http://www.craig-morford.com/

>snip of intro
In 2004, then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft appointed Morford to lead an internal review of how prosecutors handled the case of three men accused of being part of a terrorist "sleeper cell" in the Detroit area. A judge eventually threw out the convictions of the men due to prosecutorial misconduct.

Morford holds a law degree from Valparaiso University School of Law and a B.A. from Hope College.

http://www.nashvillepost.com/news/2006/10/2/people_veteran_of_highprofile_cases_brought_in_as_interim_us_attorney


Friday, March 30, 2007
Beware of Loyal Bushies In Our Midst


Without Senate confirmation, the Justice Department named Craig S. Morford to serve as Middle Tennessee's U.S. Attorney on an interim basis (Morford is pictured at the podium).

http://guerillawomentn.blogspot.com/2007/03/beware-of-loyal-bushies-in-our-midst.html

[blogslut]

2. Hmmm

So, in order for Morford to be confirmed, the DOJ will have to turn over the goods on the US firings scandal? I wonder how Gonzo will deal? Will he just have Morford do the job without confirmation? Will h try to wait until the Senate is in recess? What if Harry Reid calls off the recess?

Pressure.