Post editorial: Firing of Cummins, other U.S. attorneys mismanaged

The firestorm over the axing of eight U. S. attorneys, including Bud Cummins of Arkansas, continues with an editorial in today's Washington Post saying it was mismanaged:

The department and Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales have served themselves and the public poorly with their ham-handed, hide-the-ball handling of the dismissals. "I would never, ever make a change in a U.S. attorney position for political reasons," Mr. Gonzales assured the Senate Judiciary Committee -- only to have Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty acknowledge that the U.S. attorney in Little Rock, Bud Cummins, was ousted to make way for J. Timothy Griffin, a political ally of White House adviser Karl Rove. The revelation that all but one of the other U.S. attorneys had received positive to glowing performance reviews appeared to undercut the assertion that the prosecutors had been removed for "performance-related" reasons.

Of course, Cummins was also right in the middle of an investigation into the awarding of license fee offices in Missouri when he was fired.