A Troubling New Connection in U.S. Attorney Scandal

Dan Eggen has an article in Saturday's Washington Post that is more than a little disturbing:

A U.S. attorney in Seattle was singled out for dismissal in part because he clashed with senior Justice Department officials over the investigation of a federal prosecutor's murder, and he was recommended for removal 18 months earlier than was previously known, according to newly disclosed documents and interviews.

D. Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, told congressional investigators that he believes he may have recommended former U.S. attorney John McKay's removal in March 2005 because of conflicts with senior Justice officials over the investigation of the 2001 murder of federal prosecutor Tom Wales, according to congressional aides and Sampson's attorney.

Now for some background. Tom Wales was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Seattle U.S. Attorney's Office. He was murdered in his Seattle home on the night of October 11, 2001. He was shot in the neck through his basement window as he sat at his computer. The story was big news in Seattle, and for obvious reasons. First and most obviously, Wales was a federal prosecutor. As the Seattle Times has noted, "[i]f Wales was killed because of his work, he would be the first federal prosecutor in U.S. history to be slain in the line of duty." But Wales was more than just an anonymous prosecutor. He was the president of an organization called Washington Ceasefire and an outspoken advocate of stricter gun control laws. His activities on behalf of this organization had angered a number of people in the gun-rights crowd.

Indeed, the prime suspect in the case is a Bellevue airline pilot and gun-enthusiast whom Wales prosecuted for fraud in 2000. Wales eventually dropped the prosecution, but the pilot--furious with the government about the case--sued for wrongful prosecution (his suit was later dismissed). According the Seattle Post Intelligencer:

In the middle of the pilot's suit to recover attorney's fees, terrorists attacked America on 9/11. Wales, a leading anti-gun activist, argued on television against calls to arm commercial pilots. One federal criminal justice source later speculated that the pilot, whom he called a "Second Amendment nut" who owned several guns, saw Wales on TV and "went over the edge."

The FBI executed search warrants on the pilot's home just a few months ago.

Which brings us back to today's Washington Post story:

Several officials familiar with the investigation said McKay and other officials in Seattle believed that senior Justice officials were not paying enough attention to the case. Sampson did not cite specifics, saying only that McKay had demanded actions that led to conflicts, congressional aides familiar with his account said.

The suggestion of a connection between the firing and the unsolved Wales murder case generated angry reactions from McKay and others in western Washington yesterday.

"The idea that I was pushing too hard to investigate the assassination of a federal prosecutor -- it's mind-numbing" that they would suggest that, McKay said. " . . . If it's true, it's just immoral, and if it's false, then the idea that they would use the death of Tom Wales to cover up what they did is just unconscionable."

The story also notes:

No Justice official traveled from Washington for Wales's memorial service, [FBI special agent Charles] Mandigo said, "which I don't think set a very good tone."

A federal prosecutor is assassinated and no one from Main Justice shows up at his funeral? That's pretty hard to understand in and of itself. But the idea that a U.S. Attorney would be recommended for termination because he was pressing hard for the resources necessary to investigate the murder of one of his own prosecutors is just astounding. If the Seattle Times is to be believed, Wales may have been the first federal prosecutor ever murdered in the line of duty. But apparently the prosecution of non-existent voter fraud cases is a higher priority in the Gonzales Justice Department than finding and prosecuting his killer.

I think it's time for Senator Leahy to call another hearing.