I'm frustrated the Republicans and their lackeys in the media are controlling the frame and spin of the U.S. Attorney scandal. I'm even a bit frustrated with the wonderful Kagro X, who suggests in a FP diary that the illegality of the firings of the U.S. attorneys is somehow esoteric in nature.
While it is generally legal to fire a U.S. Attorney, it is illegal to fire a U.S. Attorney if you are doing so to manipulate a current or pending investigation. It's Obstruction of Justice, and it is a felony.
We have Harriet Miers dead-to-rights linking the firing of John McKay to an ongoing investigation. Miers was obstructing justice.
Here is an analogy I would like to offer the Democrats for this Sunday's talk shows:
It is generally legal to shred a document or delete a computer file. It is illegal to shred a document or delete a computer file to impede a current or pending investigation. It's Obstruction of Justice. And there's nothing esoteric about it (example below the fold).
And, of course, Republicans who claim Gonzalez and Libby committed no crimes because they lied about something that wasn't a crime must be asked if sex between consenting adults is a crime, since lying about it was, at least when Clinton did it.
Here is a fascinating example of the law being used super-aggressively by this administration. The defendant, the attorney for a parish where a priest was suspected of child pornography, is being prosecuted because he could have reasonably expected a criminal investigation to have been undertaken in the future.