By Richard B. Schmitt, Los Angeles Times
The U.S. attorney in Minnesota, whose clashes with career prosecutors came to symbolize the problems of the Justice Department under Alberto R. Gonzales, resigned Monday to accept a less-visible post at Justice Department headquarters in Washington.
The reassignment of Rachel K. Paulose, 10 days into the tenure of new Atty. Gen. Michael B. Mukasey, was seen as an early illustration of how Mukasey was moving quickly to address some of the lingering problems of the politically charged Gonzales era.
Among other moves, the retired federal judge is believed to be in the process of setting stringent new standards governing contacts between the White House and the Justice Department and eliminating political factors from consideration in hiring and firing decisions. He has already restarted an internal probe looking at possible ethical violations by department employees involved in a warrantless anti-terrorism program set up by the Bush administration after Sept. 11.