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Justice Department Exodus?
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ShareJune 07, 2007 7:04 PM
ABC News' Jason Ryan and Theresa Cook Report: The Justice Department received two resignations Thursday. The U.S. attorney in Wyoming, Matthew Mead, announced his resignation, effective at midnight, and Eileen O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division, announced her resignation as well. O'Connor has held her position since 2001, and will step down at the end of June.
The announcements mark the most recent resignations from a department which has been battered by criticism of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and his department's bungled firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year.
Recent resignations have been linked to the firings, such as the departures of Gonzales' chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, and the department's White House liaison, Monica Goodling. Both have since testified to Congress about the fired attorneys matter. But Justice Department officials say Mead's and O'Connor's plans to step down do not relate to the controversy.
Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, the second-highest ranking official at the department, also resigned last month, but he did not cite the U.S. attorney's controversy as his reason to leave. The U.S. attorney in the Middle District of Florida, Paul Perez, also left the department recently, but due to a lucrative job in the private sector, not the controversy.
Although there is an acting U.S. attorney in that district, only two people have submitted applications for the post, which pays $145,000. The Florida Federal Judicial Nomination Commission, which is looking for candidates, had to extend the application process by two weeks, until June 15. Marcos Marchena, Chair of Middle District Conference told ABC News, "We probably won't receive any applications till the end of the cut off date."
As for Wyoming's Mead, he's returning to his ranch. A press release from his office noted, "Mead has a family ranching background and a Wyoming ranching operation to which he now returns." Mead was appointed by President Bush October 2001. In an telephone interview with ABC News, Mead cited his successes in bringing 300% increases in felony gun cases and a 250% in immigration related cases. "It's good to leave on a high note," he said.
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