McCulloch, Callahan generate U.S. attorney talk
Last Tuesday’s election of Democrat Barack Obama as the nation’s next president is setting off the usual jockeying for jobs and key appointments in a new administration.
In Missouri, most of the speculation deals with regional posts. And two of the most sought-after are the U.S. attorney slots for Missouri’s eastern and western districts.
The eastern district U.S. attorney is Catherine Hanaway of west St. Louis County. She’s the former state House speaker who made an unsuccessful bid for secretary of state in 2004. She also is a longtime protege of Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond, R-Mo.
The western district U. S. attorney is John F. Wood. He’s also close to Bond, who was cited in a recent report as having been a key figure in forcing out then-U.S. Attorney Todd Graves from the job in 2005; Graves is the brother of U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, whose office often has been at odds with Bond’s. Bond has denied taking any inappropriate action.
A little background:
U.S. attorneys are to enforce the law in a nonpartisan manner. However, their appointments have a political aspect. Most have key connections. All serve at the pleasure of the president, and generally are replaced when there is a new one. As a rule, they serve four-year terms.
(The flap over the ‘05-’07 replacement or firing of various U.S. attorneys, including Graves and his successor, Bradley J. Schlozman, dealt with the fact that they were being removed in mid-term, and some of them were alleging it was for political reasons, not performance.)
U.S. attorneys often are close to key political figures in their party. (When both of Missouri’s U.S. senators were Republicans, it was U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-St. Louis County, who played a major role in their selection during fellow Democrat Bill Clinton’s administration.)
That said, Obama’s election means that Bond no longer will wield as much power in the U.S. attorney selection in Missouri. That clout shifts to U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a close Obama ally.
Rumors are circulating that the contenders could include St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch, who stuck his neck out for McCaskill in ‘04, when he endorsed her bid to oust a fellow Democrat, then-Gov. Bob Holden.
Also being named: Cole County Judge Richard Callahan, also seen as close to various Democrats.
By the way, Hanaway has gotten good marks from the local law-enforcement and judicial community, so it may be interesting to see how she is treated during all this maneuvering. A political person herself, Hanaway no doubt recognizes what Obama’s election likely means, as far as her future tenure in her current job.
I was suprised that McCulloch didn’t throw his hat in the ring for Mo Atty General when Nixon stated he would run for Governor. I figured he was happy as St Louis prosecutor. He would make a great US Attorney.
(The flap over the ‘05-’07 replacement or firing of various U.S. attorneys, including Graves and his successor, Bradley J. Schlozman, dealt with the fact that they were being removed in mid-term, and some of them were alleging it was for political reasons, not performance.)
To be clear, Schlozman participated in the DOJ effort to press trumped-up voter fraud charges right before the election, the same scandal that forced Alberto Gonzales to resign. Schlozman resigned after the scandal broke. The way you have it worded, Schlozman seems like one of the aggrieved.
Callahan or McCulloch would do a fine job.
I have always been impressed with Callahan, who just won a second term as a circuit judge in Cole County, the seat of Missouri State Government. He is a St. Louis native who served for many years as the elected county prosecutor in Cole County. In that role, he nailed Democratic wrongdoers as well as Republicans. Some of his office’s higher profile prosecutions of Democrats included former St. Louis Circuit Attorney George Peach and the late St. Louis Senator J.B. “Jet” Banks among others.
Since Callahan was just re-elected to a 4-year term however I am not certain he would be eager to jump to a new job. I do think he would be a fine appointee to one of our Courts of Appeals in Missouri or perhaps to a federal judgeship.
Surely someone named Dowd may be a prospect for U.S. Attorney, as the distinguished barrister Dowds of St. Louis have made themselves available for public service at all levels of government for decades.
It’s good to see how the Post is already making the case that removing U.S. Attorneys for political reasons is A-OK if Obama does it, but was illegal and unethical when Bush did it. Perhaps Mr. Obama could do something radical, and actually remove the politics from this non-political office. With his decisive win, Obama has the ability to truly change how things are done in Washington. Will he deliver, or will it be just more of the same?
I know Rich Callahan through his brother Doug, an executive with the Boy Scouts. Both Callahans are straight arrow Irish lads raised in St. Louis. Rich was a tough criminal prosecutor in Jefferson City before he was elected judge there. He would make an excellent, honest, diligent, knowledgeable federal attorney.
Neither Callahan nor McCulloch would be wise choices.
McCulloch doesn’t see a problem with jailing innocent people until they accept a plea, and Callahan doesn’t understand the Separation of Powers Doctrine.
Yes- Bob McCulloch put a man in jail. That man was charged with a crime, but there was no evidence to support the charge.
Judge Richard Callahan, with the concurrence of Attorney General Jay Nixon, appointed 2 lawyers to be Assistant Attorneys General. -The Judiciary has no constitutional authority to make executive branch appointments. -This is what happens when nobody says no.
If you want more details, feel free to contact me at motruth@live.com
Oh Nick.
All presidents (Bush included) replace the US Attorney positions at the beginning of their term. What was ethically questionable was that Bush did these additional firings/replacements mid-term basically because the attorneys wouldn’t act as Bush’s personal revenge squad.
Hyper-Vigilant, would those be the two special assistant attorneys general - one Republican, one Democrat - who were brought in to at long last bring some closure to Governor Blunt’s defiance of Missouri’s Sunshine Law and common decency as a sworn officeholder in releasing his e-mails dealing with state business and also the smearing of a former staff member? I vote for Callahan for that wise move alone.
sallyD,
You may consider it to be a wise move, but that doesn’t make it legal.
While a judge has the authority to appoint a lawyer to represent a party, he doesn’t have the authority to appoint a lawyer to represent the State of Missouri.
The Attorney General’s Office falls under the Executive Branch. While the Attorney General has the authority to appoint Special Assistant Attorneys General (RSMo 27.020), Judge Callahan lacks such authority. Then again, we seem to only have a Constitution when it is convenient.
Further, we don’t have Democrat and Republican laws. The precedent set by Judge Callahan’s appointments would indicate that all cases involving state laws should be prosecuted by a Democrat and a Republican Special Assistant Attorneys General. -Are the Libertarians, the Green Party, and the Taxpayers Party not represented by Missouri Laws?
Missouri’s lack of judicial accountability, a much needed counterpart to judicial independence, has resulted in an out of control judiciary.
Ah, so that WAS the matter hyper-vigilant was referring to - Governor Blunt’s refusal to release public records in violation of the Sunshine Law and common sense, not to mention his sworn oath to uphold Missouri’s constitution.
hyper-vigilant sounds like either one of Governor Blunt’s lawyers or one of the one-time defendants in the Eckersley smear legal matter. Sounds hyper-active to me, like Ed Martin, the fired Blunt chief of staff who led the smear campaign against Scott Eckersley. Now that a state computer technician has stepped forward to show Martin and others are liars, they will soon be brought to justice.