1 Boring Old Man

The Rachel Pulose story smells like 3 day old fish. She’s the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota that was appointed in February 2006 [the one with the "Coronation"] to replace Thomas Heffelfinger who resigned abruptly. While Heffelfinger denies that he was "pushed out" of his job, there are some damning facts in the story.

First, there’s the post by  Phoenix Woman on Firedoglake. Heffelfinger says he abruptly resigned for financial reasons. Yet, Phoenix Woman found out what he said about his DOJ job: "it is the world’s best job.  There’s no doubt about it, it is just a great job.  There isn’t a day here that I don’t pinch myself and say how lucky I am to get to do it twice." And then, he was out of work for three months after he resigned, before he returned to his old firm. Doesn’t sound right.

Then there’s Rachel’s story [from the Minnesota Campaign Report]. She was at  the Minnesota firm, Dorsey and Whitney, until December, 2006. Dorsey and Whitney represented Minnesota-based UnitedHealth, the largest U.S. health insurer. In December, William McGuire stepped down as the C.E.O. of UnitedHealth because there was an SEC allegation that they backdated a stock option in a $330 million deal. He was being investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota. So back to Rachel Paulose. She went to the DOJ in January 2006 to work in Assistant Attorney General McNulty’s office. In February 2006, she’s appointed to fill Heffelfinger’s post when he suddenly resigns and Paulose becomes the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota. So in a month or two, she goes from a firm representing McGuire and UnitedHealth, to being in charge of the office investigating him! Also, doesn’t sound right [great blogger reporting here]. Oh yeah, her resume’s been misreported maybe to cover the bad smell here.