Last One Working At The Justice Department Turn Out The Lights

Sara Taylor, Harriet Miers, Kyle Sampson, Michael Battle, Monica Goodling, Paul McNulty, Tim Griffin, Bradley Schlozman, and now Mike Elston; all involved with the US Attorney Scandal, all out of work.

A senior Justice Department official who helped carry out the dismissals of federal prosecutors said Friday he is resigning.

Mike Elston, chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, is the fifth Justice official to leave after being linked to the dismissals of the prosecutors.

To refresh your memory, Mike Elston was the hatchet man of the group.

As McNulty's top aide, Elston's duties included overseeing the government's 93 U.S. attorneys nationwide. He was closely involved in the firings of seven of the eight prosecutors who were dismissed in 2006. In addition to helping plan those firings, he called several of the U.S. attorneys afterward trying to quell the growing outcry.

At least four of the prosecutors Elston contacted said they felt threatened by his calls, which they interpreted as demands to stay quiet about why they were fired. Congress is investigating the firings, which Democrats believe were politically motivated [...]

"I believe that Elston was offering me a quid pro quo agreement: my silence in exchange for the attorney general's," wrote Paul Charlton, the former U.S. attorney in Nevada.

John McKay, former top prosecutor in Seattle, said he perceived a threat from Elston during his call. And Carol Lam, who was U.S. attorney in San Diego, said that "during one phone call, Michael Elston erroneously accused me of 'leaking' my dismissal to the press, and criticized me for talking to other dismissed U.S. attorneys."

Well, that's all wrapped up now, right? Everyone involved with the scandal has resigned! Everyone, of course, but the ones accountable.

(In other US Attorney news today, by the way, Bradley Schlozman has now been accused of replacing female minority lawyers in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department with what he called "Good Americans". He's under investigation for this by the DoJ's Inspector General.)