Deputy Attorney General Latest Departure From Justice Dept.

This is a little confusing to me:
It seems (from the story) that they're leaving AssCrack in droves. This latest one is described as a major white-collar crime buster, which makes it seem he's leaving out of frustration. On the other hand, many of the other recently departed seem like 'conservatives' fleeing a sinking ship. Any thoughts?

Snip:

The Justice Department faces potential tumult in the months ahead with the departures of a cadre of senior aides to Attorney General John Ashcroft who have made up his brain trust and a bulwark against his critics.

The latest resignation came today with the announcement from Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson that he would leave at the end of the month. Mr. Ashcroft said he was losing "my partner."

Mr. Thompson, the nation's highest-ranking black law enforcement official, has led efforts to intensify prosecutions of white-collar criminals after the scandals surrounding Enron and other corporations. Occasionally mentioned as a possible Supreme Court nominee, he will be joining the Brookings Institution, officials said.

Snip:

But the departing advisers have formed the nucleus of Mr. Ashcroft's operation and have been among his biggest defenders in his increasingly tense standoffs with Congress over civil liberties concerns surrounding the Patriot Act and other issues.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/12/politics/12JUST.html

...will start to Talk

Although it is an eyebrow raiser that they are leaving in such quick succession.

Asschuck probably found some new pentacostal law school grads he could mold into his own, so he had to make room for them.