Last week, Attorney General Michael Mukasey appointed a special prosecutor to continue the internal Justice Department inquiry into the firings of nine federal prosecutors. Mukasey concluded that the process used to remove nine U.S. Attorneys in 2006 was fundamentally flawed, and that the attorneys were never given reasons for their removal or an opportunity to speak to concerns about their performance.

Mukasey went on to say that former Attorney General Alberto “I don’t recall” Gonzales and Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty were primarily responsible for the failures within the Justice Department.

Mukasey’s report and his appointment of a special prosecutor is good news for those of us who initially questioned Bush’s selection of Mukasey as Attorney General, and then watched Mukasey obfuscate when it came to this important investigation. He could have easily issued the report and then merely waited out the clock until the Bush term mercifully ended. Maybe Mukasey finally realized that incompetence and corruption had severely damaged the credibility and integrity of the Justice Department and was undermining America’s faith in their judicial system.

Whether Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici and others who have stonewalled the investigation will finally be required to testify remains to be seen. Hopefully, given subpoena powers, the special prosecutor will be able to determine if laws were broken and then bring the perpetrators to justice. 

The investigation will continue into the next administration. But regardless of the outcome, it is truly stunning that some of the highest officials in the legislative and executive branches of government have steadfastly refused to cooperate. It’s even more frightening to think that Harriet Miers was only a Senate confirmation vote away from being a Supreme Court Justice.

Those sworn to uphold the law should certainly be expected to abide by it. That includes Alaska Governor and Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin who has refused to testify in an investigation into whether she abused her powers by firing a commissioner who would not dismiss her former brother-in-law.

Sound familiar?