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DOJ: Chief of Staff to Deputy Attorney General Broke Federal Law
In today's report on bias in hiring practices at the Department of Justice, the Office of the Inspector General found Michael Elston "violated federal law" by deselecting candidates based on their liberal affiliations:
As explained below, we concluded that Elston violated federal law and Department policy by deselecting candidates based on their liberal affiliations. First, the data analysis indicates that highly qualified candidates with liberal or Democratic Party affiliations were deselected at a much higher rate than highly qualified candidates with conservative or Republican Party affiliations. Second, Elston admitted that he may have deselected candidates in a few instances due to their affiliations with certain liberal causes.
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Josh
Zachary
Haven't read the report yet, but I have read elsewhere than Monica Goodling and team were also vetting applicants for political affiliation (available on Lexis Nexis' voter records database) as well as political contribution history.
Perceived notions of liberal vs. conservative is the tip of the iceberg/
June 24, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, Kate.
THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!!
How can this not result in a grand jury and/or a special prosecutor being appointed? Congress should schedule hearings on this immediately!
Smoking gun, pretty much? Get 'em!!
ITMFA!
-- ARG
June 24, 2008 2:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
God, an optimist. You forget what country and time you are living in; a CYA Congress and a DoJ outside the rule of law.
June 24, 2008 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good point, Bushie. I guess it's a positive that the liberal applicants weren't arrested and sent to Gitmo.
June 24, 2008 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
While I would love to cheer congress on to do something about DOJ and bums there, I believe we will just have to see what developes. Myself, I have my doubts even tho hearings and convictions should be in order here.
June 24, 2008 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, you guys are probably right. This will likely be greeted with a big yawn by the mainstream media.
And Congress will be heading home for their 4th of July recess.
I guess nobody really cares about accountability anymore.
Still, there ought to be something done about this.
-- ARG
June 24, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Naysaying aside, your feelings if not your optimism are well founded.
I.T.M.F.A.
June 24, 2008 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
But Monica Goodling said she was sorry. Where's the humanity when you need it? They didn't know there was an actual law against ethnic cleansing.
June 24, 2008 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Monica didn't only say she was sorry. Being the crackerjack, highly qualified attorney that was part of the dunce cap collective, she said she didn't know she was doing anything wrong.
June 24, 2008 6:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Executive Privilege!
June 24, 2008 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mr. Elston has just secured himself a plum job in a future Republican administration.
June 24, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just a job, Walrus.....I'm thinking Medal of Freedom."
June 24, 2008 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm guessing Mukasey will vigorously pursue one of three lines of action in response to this law breaking:
A) Nothing
B) Nothing, or
C) Nothing
June 24, 2008 4:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
BBpdx,
well, Mukasey WAS appointed by Bush, what else could we expect?
June 24, 2008 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
If this is now okay, then the next administration can "de-select" candidates with conservative backgrounds. And we should do so with a vengeance.
June 24, 2008 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is exactly the problem with how Congress gave Bush a pass for the past year and a half. It has become accepted policy for a President to lie with every utterance, to preside over an administration that totally ignores both the federal laws and the US Constitution, to order invasions of any country that is "chump of the month", to refuse to execute laws he disagrees with, to out a secret CIA operative for political revenge, to give the finger to Congress when members of the administration are subpoenaed, to appoint rigid idealogues to judicial posts, to order torture of both foreign and American prisoners, to suspend Habeas Corpus on a whim, etc. Of course future presidents will notice these things and at least be tempted to use those same "powers".
June 24, 2008 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
John Harvard, how can you abandon your principles so quickly?
Besides, I'm not at all certain that those people will really stick around. Conservative under-representation in academia or in the DOJ really has to do with core tenets of their own worldview, which has contempt for things like Rural Sociology or Civil Rights Enforcement. Unless conservatives change their ideology to include valuing the pursuit of knowledge and the enforcement of equal opportunity, do you think they will stick around in an Obama administration, when they could go to Pepperdine or private practice and make more money?
June 24, 2008 6:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
And with the new regimes will come more and more... uh... bookdeals!
Of course, there will still be a need for more and more prisons for the commoners...
June 24, 2008 5:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Does this report indicate some testifying before congress lied? Such as hiring only 'good Americans?" Monica Goodling was the only one who seemed alone in being somewhat truthful. Maybe Conyers will have less trouble (or more?) getting the same people back again. Including Gonzales. Whatever happened to the accusation Gonzales tried to manipulate Monica's testimony?
June 24, 2008 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
One really critical point that was made over and over again in the comments section in the US Attorney story and needs to be made here:
The DOJ is just the tip of the iceberg here.
What is in the report is just one part of the efforts to place Loyal Bushies in the DOJ.
In turn, the DOJ was just one of the Departments and Agencies that this was going on at.
Always keep in mind the comments about Karl's Shop popping up in the e-mails. The Shop wasn't just about getting people elected. It was about installing as many long time conservatives (often hardcore, true believing conservatives) into the career positions of the government as possible.
Karl wasn't so delusional to think the Permanent Republican Government meant that they would never lose elections. So instead, they worked to insure that their seeds were planted deeply, to blossom even in election droughts.
It's going to take decades to root them all out. The items popping up in the DOJ stories are simply the amatuers being exposed. Imagine people slightly less amatuerish in Homeland Security or DOD being planted long term.
John
June 24, 2008 6:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
lets not forget to thank Sen. Schumer and Sen. Feinstein for those key votes.
June 24, 2008 6:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do they have a link to the actual report somewhere? The only place the links reference is the overview in the WaPo article. Is the original report not avail for perusal to the general public?
June 24, 2008 6:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Love that picture of Elston: radiant self-satisfaction of the country-club Republican.
June 24, 2008 10:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Could someone direct me to a list of the undeserving individuals who got these appointments? They need to be known for the "white affirmative action" babies that they are. stevelaudig@gmail.com
June 25, 2008 8:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Many of the "highly qualified" of those chosen by the DoJ went to Pat Robertson's legal shitshow in training, otherwise known as, Regent University Law School. Their motto, "Christian Leadership to Change the World". I guess telling the truth isn't necessary in order to change the world.
June 25, 2008 9:26 AM | Reply | Permalink