One month after Jim Letten, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Lousiana, announced the demotion Jan Mann, his first Assistant and Chief of the Criminal Division for anonymously commenting online about an ongoing criminal investigation, he resigned as U.S. Attorney.

Abruptly ending an 11-year run highlighted by the convictions of more than a dozen crooked politicians, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten resigned Thursday morning amid a metastasizing scandal in his office that started with prosecutors posting anonymous screeds on NOLA.com. Letten was the nation's longest-serving U.S. attorney, having been kept in the job by President Barack Obama despite his Republican affiliation.

Also this week, the Justice Department appointed John Horn, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, as a special assistant to the attorney general to "prepare the required responses and to ensure the government's compliance with [the court's] instructions."

It wasn't just Mann who was commenting anonymously online. Another AUSA, Sal Perricone, was outed for his comments and resigned in May. One of the cases Perricone commented on was the Danziger Bridge case, involving the officers charged and convicted in the shooting deaths of unarmed individuals during Hurricane Katrina. Another news article with background is here. [More...]

Susan Rice is certainly capable and tough. One person who has spent a lot of time with Rice is struck by her “bristling certitude.” A former U.S. ambassador told me, “Rice does not know how to be unblunt.” But it is her judgment at critical moments — as displayed on whether to reopen the Sudan embassy or in her handling of the talking points on the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans — that troubles me. - Roger Cohen, NYTimes [Emphasis supplied.]

The B words and Susan Rice are becoming more and more commonplace. In a remarkable column in the New York Times, for the first time that I can remember, Roger Cohen expressed concern about "bristling certitude" and "bluntness." His concern is regarding the supposed "bristling certitude" and "bluntness" of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice. But what, to use Susan Collins' favorite word, "troubles" him, or so he writes, is Rice's judgment. Oh really? I did a quick Google search and the closest thing I find from Cohen on the CONDOLEEZZA Rice judgment issue was this:

Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group and member of the Global Drug Commision, has an op-ed at CNN on the failure of the war on drugs.

Here we are, four decades after Richard Nixon declared the war on drugs in 1971 and $1 trillion spent since then. What do we have to show for it?

The U.S. has the largest prison population in the world, with about 2.3 million behind bars. More than half a million of those people are incarcerated for a drug law violation. What a waste of young lives.

[More...]

Busy day at work for me, here's an open thread for you. All topics welcome.

In November, Washington voters passed I-502 (full text here) which provides that adult possession of up to an ounce of marijuana or specified amounts of marijuana-infused products is not a state crime and creates a regulatory scheme to license sellers. The initiative is now law and went into effect today.

The vote on Colorado's Amendment 64, legalizing adult possession and setting up a regulatory framework to distribute and sell it, was certified by the Secretary of State today, and will become law by January 5.

The New York Times reports the Justice Department and Obama Administration are considering filing lawsuits to upend both states' laws, but a decision doesn't appear to be on the immediate horizon. [More...]

George Zimmerman has filed his defamation lawsuit against NBC and three reporters for their false editing of his non-emergency call to police to report Trayvon Martin. The reporters are Ron Allen, Lilia Lucianno and Jeff Burnside. Luciano and Burnside were since fired. The complaint is here and a website for the case is here.

On Thursday, December 6, 2012, George Zimmerman filed a legal complaint against NBCUniversal Media, LLC and three individuals who were employed by NBCUniversal Media, LLC, Inc. during the time relevant to the complaint: Ron Allen, Lilia Rodriguez Luciano, and Jeff Burnside. The 24-page complaint alleges “NBC News saw the death of Trayvon Martin not as a tragedy but as an opportunity to increase ratings, and so set about to create the myth that George Zimmerman was a racist and predatory villain.” The complaint, filed in Seminole County, demands a trial by jury, and demands damages sufficient to invoke the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court.

The complaint was filed in the Seminole County Circuit Court. His lawyers are Mark O'Mara and The Beasley Law Firm in Philadelphia. [More...]

Chris Christie's decision to block health insurance exchanges in New Jersey brings forward the percolating question regarding an IRS ruling (PDF) that the ACA tax credits will be available on federally run exchanges.

Oklahoma is seeking to challenge the IRS ruling. While the challenge seems extremely weak to me on the merits, that's never stopped the Roberts 5 before.

However, the standing issue seems even more clear cut - what is Oklahoma's injury here? Howe would they have standing? Indeed, no one seems injured at all. A discussion of the standing issue on the flip.

Harry Enten.

Your turn.

The 11 Show, starring me, today at 11. Topics for today: The debt ceiling is unconstitutional, the GOP's orderly surrender on the fiscal cliff, and more.

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Open Thread.

Kim Dotcom is still on track to having a Merry Christmas. New Zealand High Court Judge J Winkelmann today ruled Kim Dotcom can add the Attorney General, in his capacity as representative of the NZ Government Communications Security Bureau, to his claim for monetary damages resulting from the the illegal search of his mansion and over-the-top commando style raid to effectuate his arrest. She also ruled in his favor on several discovery requests pertaining to the FBI's involvement in the case and NZ's illegal interception of his communications. You can access the opinion here.

To put it in context, the Judge writes: [More..]

Me and David Waldman on Daily Kos Radio:

On the agenda today: the continuing attacks on Susan Rice; is it too soon to ponder the 2016 presidential race; new PPP poll on Republican nuttery, and of course; more on filibuster reform. In particular, how well do comparisons of the 2005 nuclear option fight and today's filibuster reform effort really hold up? And why do editorial writers, misty-eyed for the days of the "Gang of 14" agreement, always forget that it enshrined the right and ability of the majority to change the rules by majority vote? Finally, a hint at a discussion to come: the NYT investigation into the value and efficacy of state and local government incentives granted to businesses in the hopes of bolstering job creation and retention.

Open thread.

New York Magazine reports Roger Ailes has put out a memo: No bookings of Karl Rove or Dick Morris without permission.

Ailes’s deputy, Fox News programming chief Bill Shine, has sent out orders mandating that producers must get permission before booking Rove or Morris....A Fox spokesperson confirmed the new booking rules for Rove and Morris, and explained that Shine’s message was “the election’s over.”

Multiple sources told NY Mag that Rove's election night tantrum when Fox called the race for Obama made Ailes angry. That was one of the most bizarre episodes of punditing in recent memory -- and embarrassing for the network.