December 4, 2008 – New York (apj.us) – Here is a small bit of news that nearly slipped under the radar: the Office of Special Counsel has determined that ex-US Attorney Rachel Paulose not only engaged in a vendetta against prosecutor John Marti but ran a sloppy operation in Minneapolis. [UPDATED with links.]
The announcement by the Office of Special Counsel in Washington on Wednesday appeared to be a full vindication of John Marti, the first assistant U.S. attorney, who resigned his management position in 2007, along with two other top lawyers in the Minneapolis office.
Marti, who continues to work as an assistant U.S. attorney, reached a financial settlement with the Justice Department. Any negative references will be removed from his personnel records. He had filed a complaint under the Whistleblowers Protection Act.
Paulose, you may remember, was a front-line player in the politicization of the US Department of Justice under the scandal-tainted Alberto Gonzales, whose "deep connections" to key players in the Bush administration’s prosecutor purge included buddy-buddy ties with DoJ Dominionist fixer Monica Goodling. Paulose may have been a Loyal Bushie, but her management style led three of her assistants to resign – even after the Justice Department got wind of the mass resignation and sent an official to beg them not to – to no avail.
Thomas Heffelfinger's comment to the Strib puts the magnitude of the brouhaha surrounding Paulose into perspective:
But the vendetta against Marti was not the only subject of the OSC probe:
Moreover, it turns out that Marti's legitimate complaint about Paulose having left classified documents all over the damn place was what seems to have triggered the vendetta.
Uh-oh! Getting sloppy in the War Against Tairists won't go over well with the Neocons, Rachel, and it sure as hell won't help land you a cushy Wingnut Welfare job after Team Obama shows you the door from that cushy DoJ job in DC you were granted after beating an ignominious retreat from Minnesota.
UPDATE: Naturally, the blogosphere is abuzz. Marcy Wheeler, Digby, TBogg and Jeff Fecke all weigh in with their perspectives on the fall of Paulose.