TPMmuckraker reports today that Carol Lam, one of the USAs fired, was on a DOJ list of prosecutors to be removed months before the Duke Cunningham scandal was revealed. Lam’s successful prosecution of Cunningham has been widely believed to be the reason she was fired. This list created by the AG’s chief of staff Kyle Sampson may tell another story. Was Lam then actually fired for performance-related reasons? It hasn’t appeared so. Last Tuesday, at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on prosecutorial independence of U.S. attorneys, where Lam, along with 3 other prosecutors testified, Dianne Feinstein produced a letter from the DOJ which praised Lam’s performance. Well, so why then, was she fired? At last Tuesday’s hearing, Republican Senator Jeff Sessions claimed she was asked to resign because she did not prosecute enough gun cases. Um…doubtful. Stay tuned!
