Rep. Adam B. Schiff is getting plenty of use lately out of the skills he picked up during six years as a federal prosecutor.

The California Democrat led the House Judiciary Committee's questioning of two top Bush administration officials regarding the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. On Tuesday, the Judiciary Committee released the transcripts of those interviews conducted earlier this summer with Karl Rove, the former White House political director, and Harriet Miers, former White House Counsel.

Schiff is also leading the House Judiciary task force charged with investigating federal judges facing possible impeachment. In that role, Schiff read aloud four articles of impeachment against former U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent on the Senate floor during a live quorum call in June.

Sen, James Inhofe, R-Okla., used the word "racist" to describe Sonia Sotomayor's speeches in which she suggested a wise woman or wise Latina might make a better decision than a white male judge.

"To me, I consider that racist," Inhofe said tonight during Senate floor debate on Sotomayor's nomination.

Senate Republicans have shied away from that term when critiquing Sotomayor's speeches. She testified at her Senate Judiciary confirmation hearing last month that she believed she had chosen her words poorly during a series of speeches intended to inspire student audiences.