One of the more perplexing cases in the U.S. Attorney purging was that in Minnesota. Former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger had originally appeared on one of the early firing lists, but was removed. He resigned apparently of his own accord.
Rachel Paulose, a 34 year old with virtually no management experience was slated to be appointed using the USAPATRIOT Act revisions, but was instead submitted through the normal channels.
Her brief tenure was marked by massive upheavals as her top 3 4 deputies all voluntarily demoted themselves to rank-and-file prosecutors to protest her atrocious management.
On April 10, several of her top managers quit their posts in a group protest of her management style, which has been described as dictatorial and at times vindictive. They include former First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Marti, former Civil Chief Erika Mozangue, former Criminal Chief James Lackner, and Human Resources Officer Tim Anderson, who had been acting as office manager until the schism.
She was investigated by the DoJ to determine whether she
...discriminated against office employees, including allegedly using the words "fat," "black," "lazy" and "ass" in remarks to one employee.
And now she's gone. She's resigned and accepted a new position as "a legal policy adviser to Attorney General Michael Mukasey and his deputy."
The resignation and reassignment (this isn't a promotion) follow new rumors of office upheaval, which I hadn't heard about until today:
The announcement came Monday after rumors began circulating in the legal community that another top attorney in her office, Michael Cheever, had stepped down Friday as senior litigation counsel, and that her new civil chief, Greg Brooker, was also planning to go back to line prosecutions.
That would be five or six of her top deputies voluntarily demoting themselves to protest her management style in the 21 months she's been a U.S. Attorney.
Can't really say I'm sorry she's gone.