Bogden could be reappointed

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada is trying to set right something that happened in Nevada during the Bush administration.

He has asked President Obama to reappoint Daniel Bogden as the U.S. Attorney for Nevada. Bogden is one of the nine U.S. attorneys fired during the Bush administration whose firings became a major issue in 2006 and 2007. At least three of them, including Bogden, were overseeing probes of alleged wrongdoing of Republican officeholders at the time of their firings. Bogden at the time was investigating Jon Porter and Jim Gibbons, then both members of the U.S. House. But it has never been known exactly why he was fired. He said he was given at least four reasons—that a slot was being created for other possible appointees, his reluctance to prosecute a weak case when his workforce was reduced, that Las Vegas was “under-served” by the U.S. attorney in terrorism, violent crime, drugs and organized crime, and a “lack of energy and leadership for highly visible district with serious crime issues” (crime actually went down during Bogden’s incumbency).

Bogden’s appointment had been sponsored by U.S. Sen. John Ensign, who was irate at the firing. “I’m calling on the President of the United States and the attorney general to restore Dan Bogden’s reputation,” Ensign said in March 2007.

Reid said he surveyed opinion among judges and other legal figures in Nevada before recommending that Bogden be reinstated. Bogden would replace Greg Brower, a former state legislator representing Washoe County and Carson City.