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Issa to testify on Lam firing
By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer | ∞
NORTH COUNTY -- U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa will testify Tuesday at one of two congressional hearings addressing the firing of former San Diego U.S. Attorney Carol Lam and a handful of other U.S. attorneys.
The hearings come in the wake of pressure from Democrats who have raised questions about whether the recent sacking of Lam and the other U.S. attorneys was politically motivated.
Issa has been one of the chief critics of the Yale-educated Lam, who left her post on Feb. 15 after being asked to resign in December. Issa criticized Lam for what he saw as a failure to prosecute illegal immigrant smugglers.
Issa said Monday that Lam lost her job because she failed to fulfill part of her mandate.
"Clearly she needed to be fired for not implementing policy over a long period of time," the Vista Republican said during a telephone interview. Issa's 49th District covers much of northern North County and Southwest Riverside County.
Starting in early 2004, Issa and other Republican members of Congress began sending letters to Lam and the attorney general's office complaining about the job she was doing.
Issa, who will testify before a House panel, said he takes "maybe one twentieth" of the credit for Lam's dismissal, adding that he believes that California Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein also played a role.
On Monday, Issa's office sent to the North County Times a copy of a June letter from Feinstein to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in which Feinstein expressed concerns about the low rate of human smuggler prosecutions by Lam's office.
"It has come to my attention that despite high apprehension rates by Border Patrol agents along California's border with Mexico, prosecutions by the U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of California appear to lag behind," Feinstein wrote.
Feinstein spokesman Scott Gerber said Monday that Lam's office addressed the issues Feinstein had raised and that the senator never suggested Lam be dismissed.
"There is a difference between raising a concern and saying someone should be fired," Gerber said. "What the Justice Department has done is unnecessarily dismiss a number of U.S. attorneys with good records."
In a written release issued Monday, Issa maintained Lam's firing was justified.
"Only someone who believes that trafficking human beings isn't a serious crime could look at Carol Lam's record and say she was removed for no good reason," he wrote.
But Feinstein's office continues to maintain the dismissal was political. In late February, Feinstein sent a letter to Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid, in which she noted the Justice Department had given Lam and five of the other fired U.S. attorneys positive performance reviews.
"These reports confirm my speculation that the rash of firings that occurred in December was not based on misconduct or poor performances," Feinstein wrote.
A spokeswoman for Gonzales said privacy issues prevented her from talking about performance review details but confirmed Issa's position that the San Diego office had the lowest number of prosecutions of any U.S. attorney's office on the Southwest border.
The spokeswoman, Tasia Scolinos, also said the performance reviews Feinstein referred to evaluated the U.S. attorneys' offices as a whole and "not necessarily ... the U.S. attorneys themselves."
Lam's four-year tenure was highlighted by the investigation and indictment of former 50th District U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who pleaded guilty in late 2005 to taking more than $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for steering tens of millions to defense contractors.
The former eight-term Republican congressman is now serving an eight-year sentence in a federal prison near Tucson. Cunningham's former district covers most of North County including Encinitas, Carlsbad, San Marcos and Escondido.
U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez, the chairwoman of the subcommittee conducting Tuesday's 2 p.m. House hearing, also sent a letter Gonzales in mid-February suggesting the firings were politically motivated.
In her letter, Sanchez questioned why Lam had been asked to step down even as the investigation into Cunningham's co-conspirators was starting to "bear fruit."
"It is vital that U.S. attorneys be able to prosecute wrongdoing free from political pressure," Sanchez and the others wrote.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will conduct a similar hearing starting at 10 a.m.
The dismissed attorneys issued a joint statement Monday, saying they were given "little or no information about the reason" for their firings.
"When we had new ideas or differing opinions, we assumed that such thoughts would always be welcomed by the department and could be freely and openly debated within the halls of that great institution," they said.
-- Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (760) 740-5426 or wbennett@nctimes.com.
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Have they no shame? wrote on Mar 5, 2007 9:21 PM:Issa started complaining about US Attorney Lam, at about the time that her investigation of the randy Cunningham was bearing fruit! The investigations weren't over when Cunningham went to jail, there were other prominent Republicans implicated. The misuse of the Patriot Act to further political agendas and to attack the independant judicial branch is symptomatic of an attack on the US Constitution.
GFN wrote on Mar 5, 2007 9:50 PM:Hmmmmmmmmm....this will be very interesting. Straight talk, I'm sure. No double speak, I'm sure. Just the facts, Congressman. Make us proud.
Cal wrote on Mar 5, 2007 9:56 PM:Bingo! This is the next Bush era scandal to hit the national media fan, and Issa is up to his ankles in it. Maybe he should have been more discreet about his 1/20th involvement. The backpedaling has begun. I can't wait to read the next installment.
Ask wrote on Mar 5, 2007 10:54 PM:Someone actually gets kicked out for not upholding the law they swore to enforce, and there is a hearing??? Maybe its too cut and dry for the gov't to figure out. Didnt do job = kicked out.
Randy wrote on Mar 6, 2007 2:26 AM:Anyone with doubts about the prosecution of a U.S. Attorney needs only to take a day off and sit in a courtroom at Federal District court in downtown San Diego. 95% of the cases are border-related criminal activity. The root problem is that the criminal masterminds are not in the courtroom. They are enjoying life in Mexico. The accused in the courtroom are 'mules,' people recruited by criminal masterminds precisely because they are expendable if they are caught!
To Ask: wrote on Mar 6, 2007 6:21 AM:Don't You See: It would be as if J Edgar Hoover got fired after putting Al Capone in prison, for not catching some street punk. Attorney Lam was fired for doing her job too well and threatening to continue as far as it took her. Those who fired her had a pretty good idea, just how far the investigation could lead! Her firing didn’t occur in a vacuum, there were others, and their firings were also political. The administration saw that with the Patriot Act, they could fire troublesome attorneys and fill the vacancies with cronies, just like ambassadorships. The local Republicans saw they could throw raw meat to their base, by beating on the illegal alien drum once again, and punish Lam for prosecuting their favorite crook and clown Cunningham!
Who Cares? wrote on Mar 6, 2007 6:29 AM:What a waste of taxpayer money. So what if the firings were politically motivated. It's the president's perogative who has this job. If he doesn't like who is holding the job then he gets to fire them. If the U.S. attorneys don't like the fact that their job is at risk for political reasons, then don't apply for the job. Simple, cheap solution. Stop wasting taxpayer money for goodness sake on these worthless congressional investigations. Its nothing more than media fodder.
If it were only that simple wrote on Mar 6, 2007 6:30 AM:George Bush swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States and didn't. When does he get "kicked out"?
Historian wrote on Mar 6, 2007 7:35 AM:I don't remember any hearings when Bill Clinton fired ALL the US Attorneys his first month in office.
Free Duke wrote on Mar 6, 2007 7:47 AM:"Ask" is right. We don't need no stinking hearing! Let's just take Darrell Issa's word for it. This had nothing to do with the continuing ivestigation of his buddy Randy Cunningham. Just a coincedence.
Political Pressure wrote on Mar 6, 2007 8:09 AM:Carol Lam should get a Citizens Medal of Honor for going after Duke Cunningham. This is her punishment for bucking the holy GOP.
Darryl the Comedian wrote on Mar 6, 2007 8:12 AM:You know, I saw Darryl Issa on Bill Mahr two weeks ago and every time he was asked a question, he made some lame jokes and grinned like a baboon. I realize it was his attempt at being "on his game" while guesting on a political pundit show, but Bill Mahr is not Stephen Colbert. Here was a perfect opportunity for Issa to respond in an intelligent way, and he blew it. Perhaps he will also be making jokes at the hearing on Carol Lam?
Ray wrote on Mar 6, 2007 8:17 AM:By all means its political! He saw it coming and it was best for him to get her out of the scene. Her mistake she focused more on the criminals in goverment and not the ones on the street.
Laughing Out Loud wrote on Mar 6, 2007 8:46 AM:Gee, what a coincidence ... Issa was complaining about Lam at the same time other Republicans around the country were complaining about other U.S. Attorneys who were performing well. Gimmee a break. This was a well-orchestrated purge of hard-working, highly-regarded U.S. Attorneys for political gain - just in case the Republicans need to steal another presidential election.
Of course wrote on Mar 6, 2007 9:39 AM:this is political payback for getting the Duke and now his buddies. Jeez Darrell, can you even say this firing was justified with a straight face? If you wanted more prosecution of 'human trafficing' perhaps a bigger budget and more personnel would have helped?
No Surprise wrote on Mar 6, 2007 9:50 AM:Issa defended his buddy Duke before (see "Issa defends Cunningham" http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/06/21/news/politics/62005205236.txt ) and he's still doing it by getting Lam fired.
Gee wrote on Mar 6, 2007 10:13 AM:Isnt everything done by congress for political gain??? LAM is guilty of not doing the job an oath was taken for. Of course this is okay for Democrats since they also believe Bill didnt have relations with that woman.
GG wrote on Mar 6, 2007 10:22 AM:To "have they no shame?" I thought it had been obvious for some time now. No, they have no shame. To "ask", she did uphold the law, just not the specific law their policy wanted her to uphold. Since when were US attorneys responsible for policy enforcement?
to who cares wrote on Mar 6, 2007 11:33 AM:The problem is that they got a provision in the Patriot Act, that was supposed to protect us from terrorism, that gives them the power to politicize the court.
American woman wrote on Mar 6, 2007 11:57 AM:Darrell Issa is a huge disappointment to his constituency...even if he wants everyone to believe folks like him, they don't. They're just too complacent to vote him out of office! It's time, folks! It's time! Hey Darrell...Let's have that real, face-to-face town hall meeting.
700 Club wrote on Mar 6, 2007 12:15 PM:"Who Cares?" is right. We don't need no stinkin' checks and balances. What's wrong with these people? It ought to be the president's perogative to fire anybody in the legislative branch for whatever reason too.
DEA Frustration wrote on Mar 6, 2007 12:45 PM:Lam also failed to prosecute drug smuggling cases. It was demoralizing to DEA workers. Catch the bad guys only to have Lam release them. If even minimal border enforcement was desired, Lam had to go. Cunningham was such a stupid corrupt politician that any competent prosecutor could have gotten him to plead guilty. Lam miscalculated the amount of cover the Cunningham case gave on her failure to handle border smuggling cases.
article reader wrote on Mar 6, 2007 1:13 PM:read the article conspircy theorists, Issa complained about Lam in early 2004 along with Feinstein. The Cunningham scandal broke in June of 2005. you all sound like morons trying to connect two issues that aren't related. The facts don't support your paranoia. don't forget to take your medicine.
Political Payback wrote on Mar 6, 2007 1:37 PM:Of course it's not political payback, or stopping her political corruption investigations before she indicts some other high-profile politicians! The reason for Lam's firing is her failure to prosecute illegal immigrant smugglers, just like the Bush administrations says. Because we all know that that's a top priority for the President, don't we???? Keep drinking the Kool-Aid, my fellow Republicans....
PRguy wrote on Mar 6, 2007 3:05 PM:From a marketing/positioning standpoint, Issa has blown this one. He has given the appearance of being on the inside in what seems to be an insiders scandal, and he has effectively positioned himself with the crooks Lam was pursuing. How did he ever sell any car alarms?
Tough Luck wrote on Mar 6, 2007 3:10 PM:Demoralized?? Lam had her priorities just fine. Suck it up DEA. Tax payers are being taken to the cleaners by the war on drugs. End prohibition. Tax drugs, regulate them (instead of the criminals doing it for us as is now the case) and then you guys can go find jobs in the private sector.
Whatsamattayou wrote on Mar 6, 2007 3:39 PM:Hey DEA. Don't fret. The next US Attny will probably prosecute medi-pot smokers. You can bust more people in wheel chairs. Life is good.
On the heels of the Libby Conviction wrote on Mar 6, 2007 6:06 PM:This is rich, especially on the heels of the Scooter Libby conviction. Cheney and Rove are up to their neck in revenge. Bush is either the most naive president or he is a liar.
Mary wrote on Mar 6, 2007 6:30 PM:To Historian: You are right and that gives this democrat one more reason why I do not want Hillary to be our nominee for President. However the Patriot Act gives the Attorney General the power to replace the dismissed US Attorney's without Congressional oversight which is a change for the worst from the Clinton dismissals. And those who were dismissed appear to be target of revenge for prosecuting republicans. Two wrongs do not make a right.
issa is corrupt cunningham supporter wrote on Mar 6, 2007 8:06 PM: He is against the troops with his actions in support of Cunningham. I suppose he is angry with the Washington Post for publishing the stories of Walter Reed Medical Center. How dare a liberal newspaper embarrass a republican president.
simple mind wrote on Mar 7, 2007 9:24 PM:It's very simple. Randy Cunningham's scandal contributes to the Republicans losing their majority in Congress, so Carol Lam takes the blame for it.
Cunningham wrote on Mar 8, 2007 6:30 AM:When Clinton dismissed US Attorneys, it was at the start of his administration. It is not uncommon for a new administrator after a long period of power being held by the opposing party, to request the resignations of previous appointees. In this instance, that isn’t the case. It is toward the end of Bush's term, (lame duck) at a time when there is little support for his programs or leadership and when many of his administration are vulnerable to embarrassment, prosecution or impeachment. His decision to politicize the judiciary is a self-serving assault on the separation of powers.
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