IN A few short months, interim U.S. attorney Timothy J. Shea, whom Attorney General William P. Barr installed, has presided over two
extraordinary retreats from justice, in both cases to help associates of President Trump, and in both cases over the objections of career prosecutors. Such extraordinary malpractice calls out for an extraordinary response. Fortunately, one is at hand.
Mr. Shea’s moves, benefiting Trump ally Roger Stone and former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, have elicited an outraged letter from 2,000 former Justice Department officials and the resignation of a career prosecutor. But that is not enough. Mr. Shea’s stint leading the U.S. attorney’s office in the District is up in early June, and Mr. Trump has nominated no one to succeed him. In these circumstances,
federal law empowers district court judges to select an interim replacement. In normal times, Washington’s federal judges would likely tap the interim U.S. attorney to stay longer or ask the attorney general for advice on whom to appoint. This time, they
should make their own choice, installing someone who will do the job fairly and competently.
Mr. Shea has proved he is not that person. In the Stone case, he revoked a sentencing memorandum prosecutors had submitted, recommending that Mr. Stone receive lighter punishment for obstructing Congress and witness tampering, despite the fact that the prosecutors’ original recommendation was in line with sentencing guidelines.