OpEd: Scarpino Statement About Rocah Was ‘Dangerous’
By Elliott Jacobson
There is a dangerous politicization of the role of Department of Justice employees happening, and it’s not just limited to Washington, and sadly, it’s not just limited to Republicans. Here in Westchester, District Attorney Anthony Scarpino was recently criticized by his opponent, Democrat Mimi Rocah, for revealing that his “Bad Cops List” — only recently released after undue delay — included a high-ranking appointee in his office. Scarpino’s response? To attack Rocah, a former federal prosecutor (a friend and former colleague from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York) saying “it’s not surprising given her background working for the Bush and Trump Justice Departments.” http://www.blackwestchester.com/mimi-rocah-das-hiring-of-investigator-on-bad-cops-list/
This is not only a misleading statement – Mimi Rocah was hired under President Clinton and promoted under President Obama – but it is an incredibly dangerous, not to mention ignorant, statement by a law enforcement official. To say that federal prosecutors take on the politics of any particular president is factually false and is an insult to every career prosecutor who is desperately trying to protect the rule of law in this country right now. Career prosecutors like Rocah, like myself (before I retired), and tens of thousands of others, serve the country and the DOJ, not a president. If career prosecutors left service whenever there was a change in political power, our DOJ would be gutted and politicized, which is exactly what Donald Trump wants. In short, Scarpino is echoing the corrupt mentality of Donald Trump either out of ignorance of how the system works, or because he knows better but just doesn’t care and would rather score cheap political points. For me personally, this is an issue about which I am particularly passionate; I was one of the prosecutors involved in the prosecution of Bernard Kerik — the only New York City Police Commissioner to be convicted of a felony and to serve a prison term —whom Trump just pardoned, likely because he was a crony and former business partner of his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. This kind of politicization of our justice system is something people of all political stripes — but especially Democrats — should be fighting against not perpetuating. Scarpino owes Rocah — and every career DOJ employee — an immediate apology. And, he should stand up for an independent justice system now. The residents of Westchester County, myself included, deserve better than this.
Elliott Jacobson is a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. The views expressed here are not those of the U.S. Attorney’s Office or the U.S. Department of Justice.
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