Twice before in this blog I’ve reported on President Bush’s appointment of the totally unqualified and unsuitable appointment of Julie MacDonald as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks. (See posts of 1//30/07 & 12/29/06)Her outrageous conduct in suppressing scientific data which contradicted White House position and her determined efforts to totally undermine any environmental restrictions were a scandal. However, there was no accountability because with a Republican controlled Congress she was allowed a free hand. She was accurately seen as the White House junk yard dog when it came to any environmental issues.

Now, with the Republicans now longer in power, the Associated Press reports she has suddenly resigned a week before a House Congressional oversight committee was to hold hearings involving her conduct. They were set to investigate her violations of the Endangered Species Act, her censoring scientific data and her intimidation of Fish and Wildlife staff to keep quiet about environmental concerns. She was recently rebuked by the Inspector General for violating federal rules in doing her job

As one environmentalist said:

"As the Inspector General showed, she bullied agency scientists, and she improperly released documents to industry attorneys and lobbyists…"

This president has continually appointed people like this to positions of power in agencies that were created to control industry activities which harm our environment. His appointees sole reason for their appointment was to keep the agency from doing its job and allowing industry a free hand. Julie MacDonald was one of the worst of the hatchet holders he appointed and she should have been fired long ago.