While Alberto Gonzales’s Justice Department was purging some of its most talented and upstanding prosecutors, it hired Rachel Paulose as United States attorney for Minnesota. Ms. Paulose was not qualified, but she did have the right political connections. The recent decision to remove her from the job is overdue and a hopeful sign that the new attorney general, Michael Mukasey, may be serious about fixing his department.

Ms. Paulose became the top Justice Department lawyer in Minnesota at the ripe age of 33. The position of United States attorney is generally reserved for lawyers who have years of prosecutorial experience or have distinguished themselves in private practice. Ms. Paulose appears to have been appointed for her conservative ideology, her support for the Republican Party and her ties to Monica Goodling, Mr. Gonzales’s former aide who admitted to improperly politicizing hiring.

Ms. Paulose’s reign there is notorious. Her harsh style with subordinates led three high-level supervisors to give up their management positions. She has been accused of making racially insensitive comments about an employee and of mishandling classified documents. She insists that she is the victim of a witch hunt, but both of Minnesota’s United States senators, a Republican and a Democrat, say they are pleased that she is leaving.

The most publicized part of the United States attorneys scandal was the purge of men and women of independence and integrity, like Carol Lam in San Diego and David Iglesias in New Mexico. Less recognized was the Bush administration’s larding the top ranks of the department with “loyal Bushies” like Ms. Paulose, who undermined the values of impartiality that the Justice Department is supposed to uphold.