1 Boring Old Man

Mercer’s Non-Move

… – not an attempt to leave DOJ, but a move to make sure Mercer can stay at DOJ, even if only in his role as USA for Montana. And I find that interesting for a few reasons–it raises questions about why it was so important for Mercer to remain USA in Montana, when he really hasn’t been focusing on his job there for about 3 years.

Two things, of course, come to mind. Jack Abramoff and Native American issues.

As I said, Bill Mercer hasn’t really been focused on day to day events in Montana for several years, since he first got a no-nomination acting appointment at Main DOJ. But one thing has been occurring–or not occurring–in Montana. The biggest beneficiary of Jack Abramoff’s largesse, Conrad Burns, has somehow managed to avoid the increasing scrutiny that John Doolittle and Bob Ney received. There has long been a question of whether Mercer has retained his appointment in Montana in an effort to protect Burns, and now it appears he can do little but that.

But Mercer is also a key anti-NAIS figure on the Native American Issues Subcommittee. As the email dumps showed, for example, Mercer was the person who heard Chiara’s appeal to retain a staffer for the Subcommittee. Which he promptly ignored and persuaded her not to make the kind of stink that might have resulted in her reversing that order. In other words, Mercer looks like precisely the kind of person the Administration has been stacking NAIS with in the last year. By retaining Mercer, even if only as USA of Montana, you ensure that NAIS retains its anti-Native American bias.

Interesting. I had that thought too, but supressed it. Not the thought about Abramoff or the NAIS, but the thought "something’s fishy here – he’s not really leaving." I supressed it, I thought, because he’s right – they’d murder him in the confirmation hearing and I’m afraid of being too paranoid about the wheelings and dealings of this Administration.

I haven’t yet internalized, as Marcy Wheeler has, that one cannot be too paranoid about the workings of this Administration. She took the thought one step further and got to the why of things. The Native American issue is a big part the U.S. Attorney story – Abramoff, Reed, Ney, Chiara, Heffelfinger, and now Mercer. I’m not clear if they’re after the Native American money, the Native American Land, or supressing the Native American vote – but following emptywheel’s lead, I’m betting on all of the above, and more we don’t know about.