Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Resigns Amid Ethics Questions
[guest post by JVW]
Yesterday NRO had an article on the impending resignation of Biden-appointed United States Attorney for Massachusetts, Rachael Rollins, a controversial figure who ascended to her position only after Vice President Kamala Harris broke a tied confirmation vote in the Senate. It turns out that opponents who warned us of the extremist ideology, gross partisanship, and dubious ethics of Ms. Rollins had it exactly right:
Massachusetts U.S. attorney Rachael Rollins plans to resign following multiple federal probes being opened into her appearance at a DNC fundraiser alongside Jill Biden last year.
[. . .]
Last year, the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), an internal watchdog that probes fraud, abuse, and other violations of the DOJ’s policies, opened an investigation into Rollins — an unusual move given her high-ranking law-enforcement position. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, another watchdog, is also investigating her.
[. . .]
Inspector General Michael Horowitz is also looking into Rollins’s use of her personal cellphone to conduct Department of Justice business, which raises security concerns. Furthermore, the Massachusetts U.S. attorney is being probed for a trip she took to California to speak at an entertainment-industry gathering. An outside group paid for Rollins’s trip despite the fact Department of Justice employees are not supposed to accept payments for travel. Rollins was instructed to pay back the group.
Today the Office of Special Counsel chimed in, and it only got worse for the Bay State attorney:
Rollins, who will resign this week after it became clear the two governmental offices investigating her would release their reports imminently, leaked non-public DOJ information to a reporter in an effort to influence a local DA race and then lied under oath about it — behavior the Office of the Special Counsel termed “one of the most egregious Hatch Act violations that OSC has investigated.”
[. . .]
Both reports [the OSC as well as the Inspector General] detailed Rollins’s effort to influence the 2022 Suffolk County District Attorney election in favor of her preferred candidate, Richard Arroyo. Rollins actively supported Arroyo and acted as a de facto campaign adviser. On multiple occasions during the campaign, Arroyo suggested Rollins’s office might announce an investigation of Kevin Hayden, the incumbent and Arroyo’s rival.
The OSC reports that Ms. Rollins made at least three attempts to spread the rumor that D.A. Hayden was about to be investigated by the Department of Justice. When Mr. Hayden defeated Mr. Arroyo despite meddling from the U.S. Attorney’s office, Ms. Rollins sent a profanity-laden email message to her defeated ally suggesting that Mr. Hayden would soon pay a price. She then contacted a Boston Herald reporter and sent in a copy of a contrived memorandum from her office recusing them from an investigation of Mr. Hayden, leaving the newspaper with the strong impression that an investigation by the DOJ was forthcoming. The Herald naturally published the leaked information. When interviewed by the OSC about her meddling, Ms. Rollins allegedly lied about her involvement. (I write “allegedly” because Ms. Rollins implausibly claims this defamation effort was undertaken by her staff without her knowledge.)
This story dovetails nicely with my post from yesterday, because Ms. Rollins is another government figure whose significance appears to have been her importance as a “first” rather than demonstrated experience or competency in the role. Her distinction as “the first black woman to hold this position” is mentioned in the lead paragraph on her official U.S. Attorney’s Office webpage, so that fact is obviously of tremendous value in Biden World. I’m not suggesting that Rachael Rollins was named to the position solely because she is a black woman — no doubt her hug a criminal and fire a cop outlook, so popular among the progressive legal elite these days, played a huge part in landing her the role too.
One of the clear priorities of the Biden Administration has been to placate various factions of the fractious and freaky Democrat caucus by implementing a policy of quotas and set-asides for a number of jobs in government, and then trying to pass it off as casting a wide net in the name of diversity. But when this monomaniacal fixation yields major incompetents in key position such as the Vice-Presidency itself, it’s obviously counterproductive. Previous Democrat Presidents like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama certainly valued having various races, ethnicities, and sexual orientations represented among their appointments, and even Republicans such as George W. Bush and Donald Trump aspired to bring in supporters from all walks of life. But these crazy times combined with the utter empty-mindedness of President Biden and the gross cynicism of whomever is pulling his strings has turned “diversity” into a fetish, and it has given us an unambiguous Quota Cabinet heavily staffed with mediocrities and incompetents. Yet they wonder why people’s faith in government continues to drop.
– JVW
I guess another problem is that normal and well-adjusted people just don’t want to work in a politically-appointed position within a Presidential Administration. So we’re left with what we are left with.
JVW (cd0d7f) — 5/17/2023 @ 3:07 pm1) That is egregious behavior for a U.S. Attorney.
2) Somebody who is prosecuting criminals should be smarter than to leave a trail of evidence like that.
norcal (15fce4) — 5/17/2023 @ 3:21 pmMove her up the ladder, Democrats! She obviously understands the way you conduct your affairs and has the right amount of deviousness.
Colonel Haiku (5e39f5) — 5/17/2023 @ 3:22 pmNow can clarence thomas resign? Republicans block removal of george santos from congress.
asset (358f8d) — 5/17/2023 @ 3:23 pm…who ascended to her position only after Vice President Kamala Harris broke a tied confirmation vote in the Senate… Ms. Rollins is another government figure whose significance appears to have been her importance as a “first” rather than demonstrated experience or competency in the role…
Box Checked Chick Checked Chick With Checkered Past.
Film At 11.
DCSCA (e44f72) — 5/17/2023 @ 3:34 pmBox Checked Chick Checked Chick With Checkered Past.
Nicely done. Jealous that I didn’t think of it myself.
JVW (b7b3ad) — 5/17/2023 @ 3:59 pm‘Surprisingly enough, Merrick Garland’s immaculately-clean DOJ will drop all charges against corrupt wire-fraudster gay-hotel-orgy-ODing Andrew Gillum.
A jury acquitted him on one charge and was hung on 18 others, so Merrick Garland said, “Don’t bother retrying the rest! Let the Democrat go!” ‘
—- Ace
https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/federal-prosecutors-move-drop-charges-against-former-desantis-opponent-andrew
Colonel Haiku (56f4f6) — 5/17/2023 @ 4:33 pm7 part B… doesn’t look like Rollins would have anything to worry about to me.
Colonel Haiku (56f4f6) — 5/17/2023 @ 4:37 pm” factions of the fractious and freaky ”
Absolutely apt alliteration!
felipe (ec80ef) — 5/17/2023 @ 5:08 pmSadly, there are no criminal penalties associated with Hatch Act violations.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/17/2023 @ 5:35 pmNot a surprise when the jurors voted 10-2 for acquittal on the remaining charges.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/17/2023 @ 5:38 pmFull OSC Report here.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/17/2023 @ 5:47 pmAbsolutely apt alliteration!
Nicely done on your part, too. My original draft used a non-alliterative word in place of “freaky,” but as I was going over the draft I realized I had to change it for the full effect.
JVW (9bb79e) — 5/17/2023 @ 6:07 pmSadly, there are no criminal penalties associated with Hatch Act violations.
Be that as it may, her resignation should be refused and she should be placed on unpaid leave while the process to officially dismiss her for conduct violations begins. Allowing her to resign will just give Ms. Rollins and her allies room to say that she was being unfairly targeted as a minority woman by reactionary forces who were against her awesome criminal justice reform agenda. I want the official employment record to read that she was terminated from her position for misconduct.
JVW (97f4a8) — 5/17/2023 @ 6:11 pmSo, the DNC quest to quell its quacking queue of quota seekers turned quite ugly Monday? Little rough needs work
steveg (bc0815) — 5/17/2023 @ 6:32 pmAllowing her to resign will just give Ms. Rollins and her allies room to say that she was being unfairly targeted as a minority woman
JVW (97f4a8) — 5/17/2023 @ 6:11 pm
Not just a minority woman. A first!
norcal (15fce4) — 5/17/2023 @ 6:39 pmAt the very least she should be disbarred.
Rip Murdock (06ef16) — 5/17/2023 @ 7:01 pmGood Heavens! According to this opinion piece in the Boston Globe, which is not to be confused with RedState or American Greatness, Rachael Rollins was even more of a raging lunatic than I had known:
And lest you think that the author of the piece, Yvonne Abraham, is some sort of right-wing plant — affirmative action on the opinion page — she makes sure to remind us that she’s a true blue Democrat progressive herself by insisting, “[O]f course, party affiliation does matter here in one crucial way. Rollins is a Democrat, and Democrats are held – and, more importantly, generally hold themselves – to a higher standard than Republicans who commit similar violations.” She ends her piece by suggesting that Rachael Rollins’ real sin is that she has confirmed the assessment of “smug, self-righteous” Tom Cotton regarding her lack of character.
Hell hath no fury quite like a progressive when a conservative is proven correct, it would seem. Woe be unto the SJW who lets down the entire sisterhood.
JVW (c6f649) — 5/17/2023 @ 7:22 pmSo, the DNC quest to quell its quacking queue of quota seekers turned quite ugly Monday?
Excellent work, steveg. How about “quest to quell its quirky quorum of quota queens and quacks”?
JVW (638601) — 5/17/2023 @ 7:28 pmSpecial memory because isn’t “quota queen” how Newt Gingrich characterized Lani Guinier all of those years ago?
JVW (5805d3) — 5/17/2023 @ 7:30 pmThere is a killer AI generated 2024 biden campaign ad over at DU. I would bring it over ;but I am not that computer savy. I am surprised DU left it up. Maybe they are worried about biden too!
asset (b359de) — 5/17/2023 @ 7:39 pm@21. Golly. High tech, Joe! There’s a rotary phone, a 1967 Corvette and some cartons of classified documents in his garage, too. 😉
DCSCA (429a95) — 5/17/2023 @ 8:03 pmRight there, and we are done. You cannot be a perjurer and be a US Attorney.
Kevin M (213cd6) — 5/17/2023 @ 10:25 pmNow can clarence thomas resign?
For what?
Kevin M (213cd6) — 5/17/2023 @ 10:26 pmSadly, there are no criminal penalties associated with Hatch Act violations.
Until you lie about them under oath. It’s always the coverup….
Kevin M (213cd6) — 5/17/2023 @ 10:29 pm@24 corruption, moral degeracy basic evilness. Claiming he can’t be a criminal because the ethics laws don’t apply to him! Bribery is subjective interpretation of the law!
asset (b359de) — 5/17/2023 @ 11:33 pmWho bribed him? And for what? It’s a silly thing to do when one doesn’t ever have a case before the court. Why not go with the RBG standard, where she attended a fundraiser for paying lawyers who were set to appear before the Court.
Kevin M (213cd6) — 5/18/2023 @ 8:02 amWill she goes to jail for her illegal and false leaks?
NJRob (998f49) — 5/18/2023 @ 9:06 amThere are no references to potential criminal violations or recommendations for prosecution in the OSC Report, so apparently no.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/18/2023 @ 9:22 amWhat am I missing? I thought that lying under oath was a problem.
Kevin M (213cd6) — 5/18/2023 @ 9:25 amHow’s Bob Menendez this morning?
Kevin M (213cd6) — 5/18/2023 @ 9:35 amThat’s a characterization by National Review which is not supported by the OSC Report.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 5/18/2023 @ 9:43 am