Christopher Christie

Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Page
The contest to bear the Republican standard against the Democratic gubernatorial candidate has fallen into a familiar pattern for the New Jersey GOP: the hard-line conservative promising outright upheaval versus the establishment candidate espousing vague electability.

The latter is CHRIS CHRISTIE, and The Inquirer endorses him in the Republican primary. Christie, 46, is the most electable candidate – so much so that Democrats have tried to boost the prospects of right-wing rival Steve Lonegan. Christie earned his reputation with prolific corruption-busting as the state’s chief federal prosecutor. His nomination would likely guarantee a healthy competition in the general election and, for many voters, a tough choice.

Christie’s chief drawback is his foggy agenda, a combination of GOP boilerplate and deliberate ambiguity. That’s probably because he is trying to keep the party’s conservative base mollified without harming his ability to move toward the center in November – a perennial challenge for Republicans in the liberal state.

Lonegan, by contrast, deserves credit for making substantive policy proposals. Unfortunately, some of them would be disastrous if ever carried out.

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This approach seems fairer. Of course, Dick Cheney may not approve.

By Josh Meyer
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — The FBI and Justice Department are gearing up to significantly expand their role in global counterterrorism operations as part of a sharp U.S. policy turnabout, in which a system based primarily on clandestine detentions and interrogations will be replaced by one emphasizing transparent investigations and prosecutions of terrorism suspects.

The effort, which has not been disclosed publicly, includes an initiative dubbed “Global Justice.” FBI agents would participate more centrally in overseas counterterrorism cases, questioning suspects and gathering evidence to ensure that criminal prosecutions are an option wherever possible, according to U.S. counterterrorism officials.

The initiative has been quietly in the works for several months, and many details have not been finalized. But some senior counterterrorism officials and Obama administration policymakers envision it as a centerpiece of the much broader national security framework laid out by the president on Thursday that emphasizes the rule of law, or the principle that even accused terrorists have the right to contest the charges against them in some kind of criminal justice setting.

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U.S. Atty. Laurie Magid

Interim U.S. Attorney Laurie Magid did some things that bothered people enough that they didn’t want to wait for her replacement.  One thing involved a fundraiser. Another involved her attempt to merge the Organized Crime Strike Force into a larger unit. The result: Good bye Laurie Magid as U.S. Attorney.

By Emilie Lounsberry and Robert Moran
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writers
PHILADELPHIA — In an abrupt move, interim U.S. Attorney Laurie Magid was replaced yesterday with another interim chief prosecutor for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Magid, a Republican appointee of the second Bush administration, has been overseeing the office since the departure of U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan last summer.

Magid, her spokeswoman, and a Justice Department spokeswoman in Washington all declined to discuss the switch beyond what was stated in a news release issued late yesterday.

Magid will, however, remain in the office, in the appeals division.

Her replacement is Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy, who previously served as an interim U.S. attorney between April and September 2001, the early months of the Bush administration. He was most recently chief of the unit that prosecutes computer and intellectual-property crimes and child exploitation.

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