That Mishandled Marston Affair (Carter's U.S. Attorney "Scandal")

Time Magazine ^ | Feb. 06, 1978 | Time Magazine

[conservative in nyc]

Broken promises and misstatements put Carter on the spot

"If I ever tell a lie, if I ever mislead you, if I ever betray a trust or a confidence, I want you to come and take me out of the White House."

—Candidate Carter in 1976

As Republicans rubbed their hands in glee, the Carter Administration last week found itself trying to explain away a skein of presidential lies. In a letter to Justice Department investigators looking into the firing two weeks ago of Philadelphia's Republican U.S. Attorney, David Marston, Carter last week corrected a misstatement he had made during a nationally televised press conference on Jan. 12. Republican Congressmen saw an opportunity to duplicate last summer's damaging controversy over Bert Lance's financial peccadilloes, and to lay siege again to what was once the President's pride: his credibility.

It was Carter's own fault. During his campaign he rashly declared, "All federal judges and prosecutors should be appointed strictly on the basis of merit without any consideration of political aspects or influence." Such appointments are traditionally made on a frankly political basis, and once Carter was ensconced in the Oval Office, that tradition was fully honored. Of the first 65 U.S. Attorneys named by the new Administration, 64 were Democrats. As House Speaker Tip O'Neill put it, "That's the way the System works." And, he might have added, the way Congressmen and Governors want it to work, no matter who is President.

Carter got himself in trouble by making two serious mistakes. Several times he told less than the truth about his role in expediting the removal of Marston. Then, after admitting he was asked to fire Marston by one of the prosecutor's targets of investigation, Democratic Congressman Joshua Eilberg of Pennsylvania, Carter did it anyway.

[conservative in nyc]

Note the date - February 6, 1978. Sometimes, everything old is new again.

Any time a grandstanding Democrat like Harry Reid tries to claim that a U.S. Attorney has NEVER been fired for "political reasons", remember this article. President Carter fired the U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia BEFORE his term expired because Marston was looking into a corrupt Democrat's affairs.

Despite the Democrat demagoguery, all of the U.S. Attorneys recently fired by President Bush served their initial 4-year term before being asked to leave. Don't believe the MSM hype.

More at the link.

[sgtbono2002]

The House of Representatives has never been led by so reprehensible and crooked a bunch as those who are in power now. There is hardly any of their leadership who hasnt got their own scandal. The most ethical House ever. nancy pelosi should taste blood in her mouth every time she even thinks of that lie she spoke.

[sageb1]

Sometimes I'm amazed that Time and CNN even keep archived stuff. There is so much material they hope no one finds there.

[Congressman Billybob]

Looking into the past behavior of both Democrat and Republican Presidents reveals that the present posturing of Democrat "leaders" is rank hypocrisy. People like Senator Reid are, however, counting on the press to be either incompetent or biased. The Press either doesn't know this history, or they know it and are deliberately withholding it.

Congressman Billybob

Latest article: "Prosecutors, Hypocrisy and Harry Reid"

[gusopol3]

thanks for dgging this up. Frankly, I'm surprised this "apolitical" system argument gets beyond the words "Bobby Kennedy."

[conservative in nyc]

Looking into the past behavior of both Democrat and Republican Presidents reveals that the present posturing of Democrat "leaders" is rank hypocrisy.

Absolutely. U.S. Attorneys have been removed for so-called "political reasons" before, and will continue to be in the future, despite the demagogue Democrats are putting up lately. Oh, and hypocrite Schumer himself has written letters to Justice Department lawyers in an attempt to affect ongoing investigations in the past.

The Press either doesn't know this history, or they know it and are deliberately withholding it.

To their credit, the McClatchy Newspaper chain has tracked down David Marston and others for their comment on the current situation, in an attempt to put things in their proper historical perspective:

Former prosecutors say political pressure comes with the job, but the Justice Department is supposed to help fend it off.

"You have to insulate yourself," said David Marston, a former U.S. attorney in Philadelphia.

The system broke down for Marston. He was fired by President Carter in 1977 at the urging of Rep. Joshua Eilberg, D-Pa., a corrupt congressman who was under investigation by Marston's office. Eilberg was convicted later anyway.

DiGenova, who was U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., said he received calls from members of Congress about specific cases "all the time." He said he usually cut the calls short and reported them to the Justice Department.

Most of the rest of the drive-by MSM has been conveniently ignoring history.

[Recovering_Democrat]

Looking into the past behavior of both Democrat and Republican Presidents reveals that the present posturing of Democrat "leaders" is rank hypocrisy. People like Senator Reid are, however, counting on the press to be either incompetent or biased. The Press either doesn't know this history, or they know it and are deliberately withholding it.

Either way, the "journalists" in the LameStream Media are proven incompetent hacks.

And, when presented the facts, these "journalists" work very, very hard to exploit any differences in the parallels and expand them so as to make the cases seem "different".

To wit: "Yes, Bill Clinton fired 93 federal prosecutors but that wasn't political because..."

I suspect, if some enterprising Democrat writer for "Time" stumbles upon these facts, s/he'll find a slight difference and say, "Yes, Carter fired this person for political reasons. But Bush's firing of eight prosecutors, Democrats say, goes beyond the pale because of the methods used..."

Just mho.

[lepton]

bump