Attorney firing has a local angle

I haven't posted much on the US Attorney firing because I didn't have anything to add to the discussion (go to Josh Marshall, http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/, for the full story). But I did notice one little local touch.

At least two of the U.S. attorneys who were later forced to step down, Iglesias in New Mexico and Paul Charlton of Arizona, were on Sampson's "retain" list in February 2005.

But by September of 2006 - after it became clear that Charlton had launched an investigation of Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz, - Sampson included the Arizona prosecutor on another list of U.S. attorneys "we now should consider pushing out."

Yeah, the Attorney investigating our own congressional sleazeball, Rick Renzi, was one of the fired. Just before the last election, Mr. Renzi's land deals with contributors were the focus of a corruption probe (http://indianz.com/News/2006/016565.asp).

The probe centers on a complaint that Renzi pressured landowners to buy a
480-acre parcel owned by his former business partner. James Sandlin, the former
partner, ended up making $3 million in the deal.

Authorities want to know whether Sandlin's political contributions were behind Renzi's involvement. The $3 million deal came just days after Renzi introduced legislation that included Sandlin's property.

Now I know why nothing ever came of the investigation. Scumbags.