Thursday, April 19, 2007
In like a Lam, out like a Lion?
Carol Lam was our U.S.Attorney in San Diego. . Her team successfully prosecuted Congressman Duke Cunningham who now spends time in an Arizona prison. Many thought she was “cleaning up” Washington and doing a good job of it. So when she was fired, the suspicion was she was getting “to close” to others in power.
Some say the firings were dirty politics. Some say it’s just business. But what do the people say who work in the U.S.Attorneys office here in San Diego?
I spoke to a number of them who make their living in that big brick building on Front Street. All are veterans of the Department of Justice. All are bright, dedicated…and off the record for this blog.
There is one thing everyone agreed on. Lam’s loss had no effect on the day to day running of the office. The business of justice goes on, managers are still in place, and it’s not effecting how things are done. They have plenty on their plates to chase and these folks are professionals.
But after this, there is disagreement.
Some felt her firing was overdue. The department needed a “course correction” the complaint was that not enough prosecutions were working through the system. Agencies the DOJ serves locally—the Secret Service, the Post Office and the Department of Commerce, all felt they were being shorted by her administration. “We went back in a time machine to 1986 when she joined the office” said one veteran.
Other insiders disagree. “She was always on her game” The crimes her prosecutors went after had been largely ignored for years. She was squeaky clean, driven
and honest with her staff. “Lam had to weigh the resources…..” and made the right decisions in who and what to prosecute.
Others don’t blame Lam as much as how the whole affair was handled by Washington.
Taking an ugly thing and making it worse. It reflects poorly on the department overall—
“We have lost stature with the public”
One attorney told me the concern was what happens next, where the support will come to run the San Diego office in the future.
“How the DOJ deals with us in terms of resources has a lot do with the cloud over
Gonzales”
Have some insights on this? Let me know.
jwblog@10news.com
Some say the firings were dirty politics. Some say it’s just business. But what do the people say who work in the U.S.Attorneys office here in San Diego?
I spoke to a number of them who make their living in that big brick building on Front Street. All are veterans of the Department of Justice. All are bright, dedicated…and off the record for this blog.
There is one thing everyone agreed on. Lam’s loss had no effect on the day to day running of the office. The business of justice goes on, managers are still in place, and it’s not effecting how things are done. They have plenty on their plates to chase and these folks are professionals.
But after this, there is disagreement.
Some felt her firing was overdue. The department needed a “course correction” the complaint was that not enough prosecutions were working through the system. Agencies the DOJ serves locally—the Secret Service, the Post Office and the Department of Commerce, all felt they were being shorted by her administration. “We went back in a time machine to 1986 when she joined the office” said one veteran.
Other insiders disagree. “She was always on her game” The crimes her prosecutors went after had been largely ignored for years. She was squeaky clean, driven
and honest with her staff. “Lam had to weigh the resources…..” and made the right decisions in who and what to prosecute.
Others don’t blame Lam as much as how the whole affair was handled by Washington.
Taking an ugly thing and making it worse. It reflects poorly on the department overall—
“We have lost stature with the public”
One attorney told me the concern was what happens next, where the support will come to run the San Diego office in the future.
“How the DOJ deals with us in terms of resources has a lot do with the cloud over
Gonzales”
Have some insights on this? Let me know.
jwblog@10news.com
Posted at 8:17 AM by jw
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