My Home State

Minnesota is sort of like many New England states, petty graft and haughtiness and general asshole behavior is frowned on and usually punished rather than rewarded. The sort of behavior Wisconsin always seems to produce (I kid, I kid, but really Joe McCarthy, James Sensenbrenner). So the stories that Josh Marshall is uncovering about the newly appointed, and incredibly inexperienced, U.S. Attorney doesn't bode well.

It isn't good for her sponsor Norm Coleman either.

Four top assistants to Minnesota U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose resigned their management posts today after expressing frustrations with her management style and priorities, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The attorneys will keep jobs in the office, but no longer will have supervisory duties, the sources said.

"This is a decapitation of the office," said a source with knowledge of the office. "I've never heard of anything like this. People work all their lives to be at these high levels in the office. This is an extraordinary event." ...

A source said managers had been unhappy with Paulose and decided to collectively resign.

"They did it jointly because they couldn't stand her anymore," the source said, citing what been described as her "dictatorial management style and general lack of management experience."

Paulose replaced former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger, who resigned in February 2006. At 34, she's the youngest current U.S. attorney. She's also the first woman to hold the post in Minnesota.

The move might have come from a disagreementin the direction of the office, but is also "indicative of how the U.S. Department of Justice is acting now," another source said.

"These are career prosecutors who wouldn't do it without a reasonable basis," the source said. "If these folks took this action en masse and all of them are well respected career prosecutors, they wouldn't do so lightly."

I hope Gonzo has this is in list of topics to prepare for.