As an assistant U.S. Attorney, she played a major role in the prosecution of Don Hill, et al. After a bipartisan commission studied the possible candidates, senators John Cornyn and Kay Hutchison selected her from the list (by tradition, senators approve U.S. attorneys for their states). But there’s a hitch. Oddly, it’s from Democratic Congressman Lloyd Doggett of Austin, who seems to think that if there’s a Democratic White House, Democrats like him ought to have the prerogative of making recommendations, not the state’s two senators, who happen to be Republicans. What makes that odd is that Saldana is a Democrat, and, judging by the verdict in the Hill case, an able and effective one at that. I’ve known Doggett since he was at UT, and this is the kind of game he loves. Fortunately for Saldana, I can also report that, like Tim with golf, as much as Doggett loves the game, he is not often very good at it.
(I tried to get the inside scoop on this dogfight from a really, really, really good source, but he wisely has neglected to return my phone calls — as I would ,too, if my wife’s appointmet was the bone over which the dogs were fighting.)
