From: John Cuccia 

Nice. The Bush Administration has started purging US attorneys who are
investigating Republicans and replacing them with GOP-friendly political
operatives.  They are using a provision of the Patriot Act to circumvent
the mandate for Senate approval to appoint their political hacks.

So much for combating terrorism, eh?  Much better to use the tools they
created to staunch their political bleeding.   My sincerest wish
is that GW Bush and his cronies spend their golden years in prison
buggering each other.


http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2007_01_14.php#011958
Okay, so we already know that the White House has now taken the
unprecedented step of firing at least four and likely seven US Attorneys in
the middle of their terms of office -- at least some of whom are in the
midst of corruption investigations of Bush administration officials and key
Republican lawmakers. We also know that they're taking advantage of a handy
provision of the USA Patriot Act that allows the White House to replace
these fired USAs with appointees who don't need to be approved by the
senate.


and

So who's Griffin and what experience does he bring to the job?

Well, top of the list seems to be his stint at the White House where he
worked for Karl Rove doing opposition research on Democrats. That was until
late last year. According to this Arkansas Times report, for the last ten
years -- with the exception of two one year stint -- he has always worked
as a Republican party opposition researcher digging up dirt on Democrats.
Deputy Research Director for the RNC from 1999-2000. Research Director for
the RNC from 2002-2005. Oppo Research Director for Karl Rove 2005-2006.
Prior to 1999? Well, he was associate independent counsel investigating
Henry Cisneros from 1995-96. After that he went to work for Dan Burton on
the Hill to investigate Asian money contributions to the DNC.

Back in 2000, when he was in charge of digging up dirt on Al Gore, he
apparently had a poster hanging on the wall behind his desk which read:
"On my command - unleash hell on Al."

So clearly, Griffin's a pretty apolitical guy.

Now, why would Karl Rove want his top oppo researcher being the US Attorney
in Arkansas for the next two years?

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