This is an interesting addition to the US attorney purge story

Apparently the Republican US attorney for Minnesota resigned in February 2006, to be replaced by a rather strange woman, Rachel Paulose, who is extremely young for the job at age 33. But she is a member of the right-wing Federalist society and has close connections to the ultra-conservative legal establishment and to Alberto Gonzales and the central office of the DoJ. Apparently she is very good friends with Monica Goodling, the assistant to Alberto Gonzales who is trying to take the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying to the Senate regarding the US attorney purge.

This background investigation is from Minnesota Campaign report. It looks into why the previous US attorney in Minnesota resigned and why Rachel Paulose was appointed his interim successor. She has been acting US attorney since February 2006, and was confirmed December 9, 2006. More about the confirmation later.

The first interesting tidbit beyond the replacement of the previous US attorney comes from the local Minneapolis FOX affiliate:

MINNEAPOLIS -- It’s a major shakeup at the offices of new U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose.

Four of her top staff voluntarily demoted themselves Thursday, fed up with Paulose, who, after just months on the job, has earned a reputation for quoting Bible verses and dressing down underlings.

Deputy U.S. Attorney John Marty is just one of the people dropping themselves in rank to simply a U.S. Attorney position. Also making the move are the heads of Paulose’s criminal and civil divisions and the top administrative officer.

The move is intended to send a message to Washington – that 33-year-old Paulose is in over her head.

Paulose was appointed before the 8 U.S. Attorneys were given their pink slips, but she has deep connections to the scandal.

She was a special assistant to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, worked as a senior counsel for deputy attorney general Paul McNulty and is best buds with Monica Goodling – the assistant U.S. Attorney who recently took the Fifth rather than testify before Congress.

Add to the suspicions the fact that Minnesota’s former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger stepped down just as the White House was developing its hit list.

Four of her top deputies demoted themselves rather than continue as her deputies. That is a textbook definition of incompetence on Rachel Paulose's part.

It is also an example of really poor screening by the people at DoJ who appointed her. Like, maybe, Gonzales or Sampson, perhaps?

But wait! There's more!

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has the story of her confirmation by the Senate in December, 2006.

Apparently the confirmation was bungled. The Senators from Minnesota were not spoken to before she was proposed, so the Judiciary Committee did not bring her up for consideration. Then the Senate was about to adjourn in early December, and when it came back it would be controlled by the Democrats, making her confirmation more difficult. So the Minnesota Senators were brought on board and Sen. Arlen Specter was dragooned into getting a unanimous Senate vote to confirm her on December 9, 2006. Otherwise she would have had to have been re-nominated by the President and reviewed by the Democratic dominated Senate. (Hers may not have been the only confirmation that got such treatment, but there is only a hint in one story that others were also threatened by the end of the Senate session.)

I find it interesting that her confirmation by the Senate occurred only two days after the DoJ fired the eight US attorneys in a move that has brought the Attorney General close to losing his job. The connection may be the incompetence of the top management of the DoJ, or the two events may have been more closely connected somehow. (Or both.)

Anyway, this is an interesting addition to the US attorney Purge story. It also hints strongly that the story is far from over.