August 5, 2009

Rachel Paulose at the SEC?

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Out of the colorful cast of characters who brought you the US Attorneys scandal, one of the most memorable was Rachel Paulose, the young Bush loyalist installed as the head of the Minnesota federal prosecutor’s office in 2006. A pal of Monica Goodling, Paulose quickly attracted attention for her swearing-in ceremony, which some observers compared to a coronation. (Although, would you feel properly sworn-in without a color guard and a choir?) She then proceeded to alienate many of the experienced lawyers in her office by quoting Bible verses and ruthlessly dressing down underlings; three senior lawyers in the office resigned their managerial posts in protest. Paulose herself departed her job in 2007; later, a DOJ Office of Special Counsel investigation found that she’d improperly fired one of her subordinates after he complained that she often left classified homeland security reports lying around on her desk.

Now, Joe Palazzo at the very useful Main Justice has spotted that Paulose is still drawing a government salary. She was hired by the Securities and Exchange Commission in March, and works as a senior trial counsel in its Miami office. From what I can tell, out of the most controversial figures in the US attorneys imbroglio, Paulose is the only one who still works for the federal government. A ‘where are they now’ roundup below the jump:

Kyle Sampson: Lobbyist focusing on the FDA.

Harriet Miers: Lobbyist for Pakistan.

Bradley Schlozman: Listed as an attorney at the law firm of Hinkle Elkouri in Wichita, Kansas.

Alberto Gonzales: Will teach political science at Texas Tech, starting with a class this fall on “contemporary issues facing the executive branch.” (That is, unless a growing protest by Texas Tech professors spikes his job offer.)

Timothy Griffin: Quit public service forever in teary huff, returned to his first love, political consulting.

Monica Goodling: A consultant. Also got married after an old college sweetheart saw her testify before Congress and called to say hello. How’s that for a silver lining?

 

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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