Last tag?

LITTLE ROCK, AK

New U.S. Attorney Tim Griffin says he wants to focus on aggressively fighting crime, not on the way he was appointed to his position.

Griffin, a former assistant to President Bush adviser Karl Rove, was sworn in last week as the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. The 38-year-old Magnolia native replaced Bud Cummins.

Arkansas Senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln had questioned Griffin's appointment, saying it circumvented the normal appointment process.

Griffin acknowledges the appointment process is a political one, but says --quote-- "the moment you become U-S attorney, politics stop." He asks that those doubting the appointment to judge him on his performance as time goes on.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press.

Did he get that quote from his old boss or Alberto Gonzales?