Trouble in the AG office?

Both the Minn Post and MPR are running pieces about the personnel chaos pre-staging and continuing through a unionizing effort at the Minnesota Attorney General's office. New Attorney General Lori Swanson has not been well received by her employees and there has been some suggestion that some employees were retaliated against for their unionizing efforts.

Most troubling is the alleged circulation of an anti-unionizing, loyalty oath that was passed along to employees. A couple other allegations surfaced of staff attorneys being pressed to create legal cases in politically relevant ways in tight timelines, despite the lack of facts supporting going forward with a prosecution. An assistant attorney-general told reporter Eric Black that "Swanson told her to find someone to sue, draft a complaint and file suit within a week." I'm not a prosecuting attorney, but as I understand it, usually you allow the facts of the case guide you when making a decision whether to draft a complaint.

I voted for Swanson in the 2006 general election, but not in the primary. It's difficult to imagine the same allegations had Steve Kelley been elected Attorney General. Especially with Mike Hatch not in the governor's office and able to protect his protege, I would fully expect an intra-party challenge to Swanson come 2010.