Michael Shaheen, who headed the OPR from its inception until 1997, said that his staff “never, ever was denied a clearance,” and that OPR had conducted numerous investigations involving the activities of attorneys general. “No attorney general has ever said no to me,” Shaheen said. He added that, over the past several years, the OPR’s muscle has degraded, in part because it was stripped of its authority to pursue criminal investigations. But under the Bush administration, the weakening has been especially pronounced, Shaheen said. “I just think that the White House has so frightened everybody…. If I were still at OPR and was told I couldn’t have security clearances, the first word out of my mouth … would have been, ’Balderdash!’ “

From the NJ. Like I’ve said elsewhere, it’s got to be tough to be an honest prosecutor these days. Another interesting quote:

The only classified information that OPR investigators were seeking about the NSA’s eavesdropping program was what had already been given to Ashcroft, Gonzales and other department attorneys in their original approval and advice on the program, the two senior government officials said. And, by nature, OPR’s request was limited to documents such as internal Justice Department communications and legal opinions, and didn’t extend to secrets that are the sole domain of other agencies, the two officials said.

In other words, their excuses about “security” are all bullshit. But you knew that. Consider this another moment in “the Rule of Law is dead, think about the alternatives.”