In this case there are no accusations of wrong-doing, nor is the story about firings and such. Rather, it simply sounds like the Minneapolis office isn’t being very well run. The connection to the broader USA story is simply a big question mark about what is going on with the administration of justice these days?
Via the Strib comes an odd story of three members of the Minneapolis’ USA office who voluntarily demoted themselves in protest over the way US Attorney Rachel Paulose is running the place, 3 federal prosecutors quit manager posts:
“It’s just absolutely extraordinary that these three top managers would voluntarily demote themselves,” said one defense attorney knowledgeable about the office. “I mean, it’s a rank cut. … And then it would be a salary cut, too.”A source familiar with the office said Thursday’s resignations were more about management style and communication than politics. But they take on added significance because they follow a number of other managers who have voluntarily stepped aside since Paulose took over.
According to the local Fox affiliate:
The move is intended to send a message to Washington – that 33-year-old Paulose is in over her head.
The piece notes a fourth member of Paulose’s “top staff” who also self-demoted.
Further, the story notes the following Paulose connections, which are interesting (at a minimum) given the overall USA story:
She was a special assistant to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, worked as a senior counsel for deputy attorney general Paul McNulty and is best buds with Monica Goodling – the assistant U.S. Attorney who recently took the Fifth rather than testify before Congress.
A bizarre side-note to the story is the extravagant swearing-in ceremony that Paulose treated herself to:
Was U.S. Attorney’s swearing-in ceremony too extravagant?. The ceremony in question included “a processional, a professional photographer, a color guard and a choir.” There is a video report at the previous link that is worth a looksee.
h/t: Think Progress for the link on the ceremony.
Update: Something I meant to say last night: it is ironic, at a minimum, if Paulose’s performance is as problematic as this situation suggests, given that the fired USAs were alleged let go for “performance” reasons despite often having high performance reviews.
Technorati Tags: USAs, US Attorneys, Rachel Paulose
April 7th, 2024 at 11:41 am
I just finished watching the video clip of her swearing in ceremony.
“Modest”?
A CHOIR, fer cryin out loud! A huge auditorium. A color guard. A “discarded” humongous plan carried out practically to the letter. Thousands and thousands of tax-payer dollars spent via staff work-hours to pull this extravagana off. Modest? Gimme a break.
But she definitely missed a couple of things: Where were the clowns, the pony, the magician, the party hats, the confetti, the food fight?
I mean, heck, if you’re going to throw YOURSELF a party, why hold back?
This woman is so obviously so full of HERSELF it utterly begs to be asked if she has any chance of being an effective leader.
April 7th, 2024 at 12:01 pm
It is a mighty bizarre tale, to be sure.
April 7th, 2024 at 6:59 pm
The true wonderfulness of this story is the obtuseness of the local news media when Paulose was quickly approved just before the end of the last Congress. They reported that her name had not been run by Sen. Coleman, so she probably wasn’t going to get confirmed before adjournment. Odd that, because she had occupied the USA position for months without confirmation and Coleman can be counted on as a loyal Bushie. It sounded fishy that they’d be so careless at the time, and more so now that we know that, in fact, there was extensive planing and political stragtegizing going on for almost a year to insert Federalist Society ringers in USA positions.
Suddenly, Paulose had Coleman’s OK, there was no time left for the Senate to hold a meaningful hearing, and Paulose shot to a quickie confirmation. All this and her lavish installation ceremony, and the Twin Cities media still found nothing worth a further look. All praise to Josh Marshall and talkingpointsmemo.com for recognizing a pattern and blowing the whistle. It sure didn’t set off any alarms in the snooze-fest that passes for newspapers in Twinsville!
April 7th, 2024 at 11:17 pm
I would encourage you to read Scott Johnson’s post at Powerline – http://powerlineblog.com/archives/017135.html
It offers a very different perspective on the event.
April 8th, 2024 at 8:41 am
I must confess, Powerline is such a pro-administration blog that I find it difficult to take their analysis of such situations seriously.
And in reading over the post, I am not buying their excuses (that Paulose is of specific ethnic derivation and that the color guard had a fun time or that the theme was pro-America doesn’t make that much pomp and circumstance necessary or appropriate). And the staff moves have a clear ring of protest to them.
April 8th, 2024 at 12:17 pm
As someone who has worked in and as a contractor for the Federal Government for nearly three decades, I frankly didn’t find the ceremony to be especially over the top relative to any number of change of command, retirement, or swearing-in ceremonies that I have personally attended or been involved with. You may consider these all to be a tremendous waste of time and resources, which is certainly your right, but to single out Ms. Paulose as somehow uniquely out of line and over the top is an unfair critique which begs the question as to the motivations of those who are most vocal in their criticism.
Having served in a military color guard in my much younger days, I can personally relate to the color guard having a good time. Seeing that the color guard at the ceremony was made up of Marines, I have no doubt that they enjoyed being able to show off their skills in presenting the colors in a professional way, and being able to rub shoulders with a US Senator was likely a highlight for them. The fact that the color guard was permitted to do that represents a far more open ceremony than many I have been at where the color guard was expected to present and retire the colors and then to disappear.
With respect to your take on Powerline, they make no secrets of their conservative views, unlike the Star-Tribune, which is less honest in acknowledging its liberal bias.
April 8th, 2024 at 1:17 pm
Yes, but this wasn’t a change of command, it was a swearing in of an already interim USA to be permanent USA and it was not at all of common type of ceremony as compared to other such swearings-in.
I don’t know how one calls this anything other than extravagant.
And it isn’t that Powerline is conservatively-biased, but that it is extremely pro-administration. There is a difference–indeed a rather important one. Indeed, it has been my observation that two of the most consistent sources of administration support in the Blogosphere are the Powerline guys and Hugh Hewitt.
And, I would I note, the Strib was not the only source of the story.
And I am glad that the color guard had a good time, but that’s irrelevant to whether or not their presence was necessary and legitimate or not.
April 8th, 2024 at 4:42 pm
Patterico has a commenter who claims to be an AUSA and does not appear to be a Paulose supporter. His comments are quite enlightening and raise questions about significant aspects of what has been reported regarding her purported political allegiances. I will agree with you that Hewitt is reflexively supportive of the administration, and I tend not to read him because of that (I already know what he will say without wasting the time.) With the Powerline guys, I agree that they largely agree with the President on policy, but I have seen them take him to task on tactics.
April 8th, 2024 at 9:42 pm
Does anyone find it odd that she arrived at DoJ — McNulty’s office in DC — in Jan. 2024 and in mid-Feb. 2024 she was named as Interim US Attorney for MN?
April 9th, 2024 at 8:36 am
Poliblogger would hate this
Dr. Taylor, who helped set this site up with Scott Gosnell, and who is an all-around good guy who is best known outside of his campus as Poliblogger, would detest my long-time friend Chris Roach ’s views on the attorney firing scandal, in many w…