Political Jackass

As midterm elections approached last November, federal investigators in Arizona faced unexpected obstacles in getting needed Justice Department approvals to advance a corruption investigation of Republican Rep. Rick Renzi, people close to the case said.

The delays, which postponed key approvals in the case until after the election, raise new questions about whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales or other officials may have weighed political issues in some investigations. The Arizona U.S. attorney then overseeing the case, Paul Charlton, was told he was being fired in December, one of eight federal prosecutors dismissed in the past year. The dismissals have triggered a wave of criticism and calls from Congress for Mr. Gonzales to resign.

Investigators pursuing the Renzi case had been seeking clearance from senior Justice Department officials on search warrants, subpoenas and other legal tools for a year before the election, people close to the case said.

The Justice Department denied any foot-dragging in the Renzi case. “There was no such delay,” said Bryan Sierra, a spokesman. Mr. Gonzales has said none of the firings of U.S. attorneys was related to corruption cases, and that the department is committed to pursuing such cases. Public-corruption staffing and prosecutions nationwide have increased during his tenure.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.), a Judiciary Committee member who has called for Mr. Gonzales’s resignation, said his panel is planning to pursue whether the Renzi case was a factor in Mr. Charlton’s firing. “I’m not saying there’s evidence and I’m not making allegations,” Mr. Schumer told reporters Monday. “But it’s something we should look into.”

Read more at the Wall Street Journal

The top two Democratic presidential contenders rebuked Republican rival Rudy Giuliani Wednesday for suggesting the United States could face another major terrorist attack if a Democrat is elected in 2008.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama said the man who served as New York mayor’s during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks should not be making the serious threat that faces the country into “the punchline of another political attack.”

“Rudy Giuliani today has taken the politics of fear to a new low and I believe Americans are ready to reject those kind of politics,” Obama said in a statement. “America’s mayor should know that when it comes to 9-11 and fighting terrorists, America is united. We know we can win this war based on shared purpose, not the same divisive politics that question your patriotism if you dare to question failed policies that have made us less secure.”

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