Although Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has written some good decisions during his tenure - some of which have put him at odds with conservatives in his Republican Party - the present turmoil in the Justice Department raises questions about how effective a job he will be able to do.

It's not one specific problem but an accumulation of troubles, and we don't know everything. A chunk of explanation is hidden either in personnel files which Van Hollen didn't release or by the reluctance of people to speak with reporters.

What we do know is that the top investigator at the Department of Criminal Investigations, which assists local law enforcement, chose to retire after a decade in the job rather than be sidelined in a position overseeing training. This man, Jim Warren, was described by one of his subordinates as a person who brought the division's professionalism and integrity to a peak. In e-mails obtained by the Wisconsin State Journal, Warren wrote about a constant war with Van Hollen's office, and in an interview he said the problem was not Van Hollen but the people around him.

Then there's Carolyn Kelly, director of the state Special Investigations Bureau and also the state fire marshal. She was demoted because she wrote e-mails allegedly threatening Van Hollen.

There is no question that the messages released by Van Hollen were in poor taste. Whether they can be construed as threats, instead of simple expressions of frustration, is less clear. Nor did Van Hollen's staff see these messages until the department received an open records request.

Van Hollen refused to release the personnel report on the matter, for which he was rightly criticized by Kelly's attorney, but there is another factor here. Kelly instructed her investigators not to talk to the Justice Department's executive staff about the mass murder in Crandon unless it was done through her or Warren.

Joell Shigur is a Justice Department official who questioned whether state agents should act as bodyguards for Van Hollen at the national Republican Party convention, an unprecedented step for someone who is neither a high-ranking federal official nor a national political figure. With one month left on her two-year job probation, Shigur was told she had failed. A Van Hollen spokesman said the two events are unconnected.

What this looks like is someone or several someones trying to bend the Department of Justice to political ends. Perhaps someone was pushing the Crandon case ahead of where investigators were or the evidence was, and bureau chiefs objected to political interference. Perhaps someone also took umbrage at doubts over the personal security detail because people without security details are less important. It would hardly be unusual for political appointees to try to make the boss look good because such a boss can gain a more powerful position and take his aides along.

For residents of Wisconsin the issue is the effectiveness of the Justice Department. In a field where everything depends on the intelligence and creativity of employees, crushing morale with political interference is not a way to provide the best service. It would be a good step if Van Hollen, who has shown a commendable streak of independence, would investigate his own staff and explain what is going on.