[mountaineer]

I wonder how long it would take to find and remove all of the Clinton appointees from the massive federal bureaucracy. Perhaps the Bush Administration should, at least, start cleaning out the State Dept.

[Miss Marple]

The problem with this is that they aren't appointees any more. Clinton began moving loyalists into Civil Service positions in early 2000. Once hired as Civil Service employees, they cannot be fired simply because they are Clinton loyalists.

You have to root them out and catch them in something like this, one person at a time.

This is a real problem in ALL the departments. It is the source of the leaks and rumors at the Pentagon and at State. Ashcroft did some fancy re-assigning in 2002 and has these folks fairly isolated. However, CIA obviously still has Clinton people there (like the odious Valeria Plame) and I am sure there are many more.

I am also sure they are being investigated quietly and watched so that anything at all untoward will give an excuse to get rid of them, like this person.