NY Times gets it right! See editorial today.

The New York Times has opined on the rather disgusting political prosecution of a Wisconsin state employee, Georgia Thompson, in an effort to defeat the Governor Jim Doyle (Democrat) in his effort to be reelected.

As Congress investigates the politicization of the United States attorney offices by the Bush administration, it should review the extraordinary events the other day in a federal courtroom in Wisconsin. The case involved Georgia Thompson, a state employee sent to prison on the flimsiest of corruption charges just as her boss, a Democrat, was fighting off a Republican challenger. It just might shed some light on a question that lurks behind the firing of eight top federal prosecutors: what did the surviving attorneys do to escape the axe?

Ms. Thompson, a purchasing official in the state’s Department of Administration, was accused by the United States attorney in Milwaukee, Steven Biskupic, of awarding a travel contract to a company whose chief executive contributed to the campaign of Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat. Ms. Thompson said the decision was made on the merits, but she was convicted and sent to prison before she could appeal.

The prosecution was a boon to Mr. Doyle’s opponent. Republicans ran a barrage of attack ads that purported to tie Ms. Thompson’s “corruption” to Mr. Doyle. Ms. Thompson was sentenced shortly before the election, which Governor Doyle won.

The Chicago-based United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit seemed shocked by the injustice of her conviction. It took the extraordinary step of releasing Ms. Thompson from prison immediately after hearing arguments, without waiting to issue a ruling. One of the judges hinted that Ms. Thompson may have been railroaded. “It strikes me that your evidence is beyond thin,” Judge Diane Wood told the lawyer from Mr. Biskupic’s office.

It's good to see the Grey Lady get on board and recognize the real danger behind the firing of the U.S. attorneys who resisted bringing such unfounded cases for political reasons.

The U.S. attorney in Wisconsin, Biscupic, kept his job. How many others conducted such unethical and even illegal investigations, prosecutions, and despicable Press Releases to stay on the good side of the Department of Justice and Karl Rove?

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See also my previous post.

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  Wisconsin US attorney rammed through fake corruption case of Democrat before last Governor's election.
  Friday, April 6, 2007