In the wake of the report issued by the Department of Justice this week, there is renewed media interest in the firings of a number of U.S. Attorneys.  The blatant political motives behind the firing of the Todd Graves in Missouri are explored in today's Washington Post:

But the triviality of the dispute that led to Graves's ouster, described in the report as a split between Bond and Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) over how to "run business" in Missouri politics, suggests that in the early part of Bush's second term the Justice Department's top officials were more interested in political gain -- or political favors -- than the neutral pursuit of justice.

"What adult acts like this?" asked Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit watchdog group. "Senators are not spoiled children who can lash out on the playground . . . when they don't get their way. U.S. attorneys are not toadies for their Senate sponsors, they are federal law enforcement officials."

Bond, who refused to be questioned about the episode by investigators, emphasized in a letter to Inspector General Glenn A. Fine that he made no calls himself about Todd Graves. He issued a brief statement Tuesday apologizing to "the people of Missouri" and to Graves, saying had "no knowledge of my staff's action, did not approve it and would not have approved it."

CREW thinks the Senate Ethics Committee must investigate Senator Bond's role in this matter. We filed an ethics complaint against Bond.