WASHINGTON, D.C. / March 5, 2007 — The Asian American Action Fund (AAA-Fund) strongly condemns President Bush for firing United States Attorney Carol Lam, who served as a U.S. attorney in the South District of California. Last December, Lam was asked to step down along with seven other U.S. attorneys, several of whom have conducted investigations of sitting pubic officials.

"Especially because Carol Lam was the only Asian American woman to serving as a United States Attorney and is only one of two Asian American women to have served in the position, the AAA Fund strongly chides the President for firing Lam," said Gautam Dutta, Board Member of the AAA Fund. "Carol Lam has made significant progress for the Asian Pacific American community by serving as an under-represented racial minority in the United States Attorney's Office. It is unfortunate that political motivations apparently have entered into the firing of this provably competent leader."

According to testimony by Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty before the Senate Judiciary Committee, they were asked to step down because of "performance-related" issues. However, it is apparent the reason is not performance, since Carol Lam has a strong record of being an effective prosecutor. Her investigation of former Representative Duke Cunningham, as noted in The Hill, was regarded by the Justice Department as "the linchpin of their growing pursuit of public corruption cases." In her last evaluation in February 2005, she was concluded as "an effective manager and respected leader in the district."

The AAA-Fund supports the investigation conducted by the Senate Judiciary Committee and echoes the sentiment expressed in letters from Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Representative Rahm Emanuel, and the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative John Conyers.

The AAA-Fund is a national Democratic political organization whose goal is to increase the voice of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in local, state and federal government, by encouraging AAPIs to volunteer on campaigns, raise money for candidates, and run for political office.