Trump Fires All Remaining Obama-Appointed U.S. Attorneys
U.S. citizens mistakenly believe that justice is bipartisan. Justice is seldom available to low income, or marginalized folks. But oddly, many still believe that justice is somehow immune to ills of politics or human error. Trump's decision on Friday to terminate all remaining Obama-appointed U.S. attorneys, proves that even the department known as "Justice" is vulnerable to partisan wrangling.
Trump instructed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to order the resignations of all remaining 46 Obama-appointed U.S. attorneys. The order given was to leave and clean out offices immediately. Drawing the most attention of the firings is Preet Bharara who served New York's Southern District. Bharara's situation was special due to the communication he received from the White House. In addition, as U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Bharara had authority over the Trump Organization which is headquartered there.
Bharara was asked personally by Trump to continuing working out of the New York Southern District office. So naturally, the mass firings on Friday caught Bharara and everyone working with him, off-guard. To eliminate confusion surrounding his departure, Bharara Tweeted, "I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired." Bharara continues with appreciation for the opportunity as he went on to state, "Being the US Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life."
Regardless of whom appoints justice department officials, their mission is supposed to transcend politics. The Department of Justice is the highest law enforcement body in this country. Removing the remaining executives from every branch of the department not only serves a callous political function, but it also has the practical force of substantially weakening DOJ field offices.
Occupying the White House grants Trump the authority to abruptly terminate U.S. attorneys. However, the decision was ill-advised and will come at a high cost should the legal expertise of the fired U.S. attorneys be needed in the immediate future or if their replacements are not in a position to fully assume the responsibilities of the position.
