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AZ Interim U.S. Attorney appointed by Gonzales and Bush -- Keep Your Eyes Peeled on Nevada

Thu Feb 01, 2007 at 11:08:24 AM EST

While working on Alberto Gonzales: Gaming the U.S. Attorney System?, ePluribus Media researchers Roxy, Avahome, Standingup, and cho were curious when late Wednesday (1-31-07), a paragraph about Diane Humetewa as Republican Senators McCain's and Kyl's recommended replacement for resigning U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton, one of the Gonzales Seven, disappeared from an The Arizona Republic article.

The missing paragraph read:

"Diane Humetewa, an assistant U.S. attorney and Hopi tribal member, has been recommended by Arizona's two U.S. senators to replace Charlton but has not been nominated for that position."

Why was the paragraph zapped?

commentary :: :: :: buzz-it!

Alberto Gonzales and President Bush appointed Daniel Knauss to serve as interim instead.

As The Arizona Republic reports this morning:

Wyn Hornbuckle, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for Arizona, stressed that Knauss' appointment is a temporary measure. He said President Bush has yet to nominate a candidate for Senate approval, and Humetewa is not excluded from that process.

Ignoring the Senators' suggestions:

In Arizona, January 31^st was U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton's last day. Like others of the Gonzales Seven, his departure was unexpected, if not forced. Still, Arizona Republican Senators McCain and Kyl had submitted Diane Humetewa, a member of the Hopi Indian Tribe and currently senior litigation counsel and tribal liaison for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix, to the President as the replacement for Charlton. She's not been appointed, however, which left the Arizona district without a leader in charge of the 253 staff and Assistant United States Attorneys in four offices. Wednesday evening, the Associated Press reports:

So far President Bush hasn't made a nomination, so the Justice Department announced today that Daniel Knauss will serve as the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona.
Knauss currently is the chief assistant U.S. attorney for the district.

In The Alberto Gonzales Appointments: How the Process Has Changed and Why this is so Important Adam Lambert (clammyc) described the traditional process of filling U.S. Attorney positions, how the offices are organized, and how the March 2006 Patriot Act reauthorization provided a way to circumvent that traditional process.

So keep your eyes peeled on Nevada, where Daniel G. Bogden, another of The Gonzales Seven, will be stepping down February 28th. Who will Gonzales and President Bush appoint to head up the district?

We need help answering three more questions, care to speculate?

Has any previous President of the United States so systematically (in four or more U.S. Attorney appointments) ignored the recommendations of the U.S. Senators from the affected districts?
What sorts of cases has Knauss been successful in prosecuting? What is his area of expertise?
Who have the Nevada senators or "party leaders" recommended to Gonzales and Bush, and who else might be their "interim" appointment?