Separating politics from pursuit of justice
Former Attorney General John Ashcroft had a standard spiel for new U.S. attorneys: "You have to leave politics at the door to do this job properly."
Maintaining that independence, without fear of repercussions, is the bedrock principle at stake in the controversy over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys. As the top law enforcement official in each of their jurisdictions, these federal prosecutors have the power to destroy reputations, careers and even lives.
They're political appointees, but they're supposed to follow the evidence wherever it leads, without fear or favor. While presidents have the power to remove them for any reason, tradition holds that prosecutors should stay on the job unless they're corrupt or incompetent.
When Democrat Bill Clinton became president, he fired all but one of the U.S.
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