Here's a scandal that I've been following for a while on Talking Points Memo that's starting to bubble up into the mainstream media:

Recently, the Bush administration fired 7 U.S. attorneys and replaced them with a hodge podge of unqualified cronies. Annoying, but nothing new, right? Wrong.

Those attorneys had originally been placed in their positions by the President, and confirmed by the Senate. Traditionally, they would have stayed there for the duration of the President's term in office.

The Administration has always had the power to replace U.S. attorneys, but replacements had to be confirmed by the Senate. In March, 2006, the Administration changed the rules so that they could offer interim appointees who could serve for an indeterminate amount of time - bypassing the Senate confirmation.

Many of those attorneys who were fired had been investigating, or had recently completed an investigation into Republican corruption. For instance, Carol Lam led the investigation that resulted in Republican congressman Duke Cunningham being sent to prison for bribery.

One, David Iglesias, refused to bow to direct pressure from Republican congressmen Pete Domenici and Heather Wilson to indict one of their Democratic colleagues just prior to the 2006 elections.

Prior to their dismissal, nearly all of the attorneys in question received consistently stellar performance reviews that - among other things - placed emphasis on their effectiveness in the battle against terrorism.