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Man Denied DOJ Job Because of Wife's Democrat Ties Is Identified
Among our coverage yesterday of the OIG report, was the specific case of an "experienced terrorism prosecutor" who was denied a DOJ promotion because Monica Goodling discovered that his wife was a longtime Democrat.
That man has now been identified by The Buffalo News as William J. Hochul Jr., a career federal prosecutor from Western New York, whose wife, Kathleen Hochul, was a longtime Democrat:
The report does not name that attorney, but sources told The Buffalo News that it was William J. Hochul Jr., a winner of the Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Service -- and the husband of Kathleen C. Hochul, a longtime Democratic activist and former Hamburg Town Board member who was elected Erie County clerk in 2007.The Justice Department's liaison to the Bush White House, Monica M. Goodling, blocked Hochul's appointment to the counterterrorism post, sources said.
"As a result, a much less experienced, but politically acceptable, attorney was assigned this important responsibility," says the report, issued by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility and Inspector General.
The Buffalo News also identifies another Western New York federal prosecutor mentioned in the report, who was also nixed by Goodling for a promotion to Main Justice:
Similarly, although Michael A. Battle -- former U. S. attorney in Western New York -- headed the Executive Office of U. S. Attorneys from 2005 to 2007, Goodling blocked his choice for his own top assistant.Goodling viewed Battle's pick as a "political infant" who had not proved himself to the Republican Party, Battle told investigators. Sources identified the failed nominee as John Kelly of the U. S. attorney's office in Rochester.
Josh
Zachary
This is much ado about nothing.
This is what politics is all about.
This was A SAFE ISSUE FOR PUNK DEMS TO LOOK AT, SO THEY CAN PRETEND TO DO SOME TYPE OF OVERSIGHT.
THIS IS MORE POSING BY PUNK DEMS.
THIS ISSUE (politics in hiring)....is irrelevent, when DEMS IGNORE DASCHLE CAMPAIGN WIRETAPPING....CONSPIRACY TO OBSTRUCT SD US ATTY MICHELLE TAPKEN'S GRAND JURY....RETALIATION AGAINST WITNESSES....3 SD MURDERS COVERED UP BY DRUG DEALING LITTLE LYING PUNKS WITH FBI BADGES....etc.
July 29, 2008 11:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's rude to YELL. Perhaps you should consider taking a deep breath, getting your blood pressure under control, and presenting a cohesive statement. I am hard pressed to understand your point beyond the fact that you appear to be really MAD about something.
July 29, 2008 12:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, links, please?
July 29, 2008 1:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Congratulations! For letting testosterone be your sole intellectual modulator, you and your family will receive an all expense paid trip to Dead America!
http://www.light-to-dark.com/neofascia.html
July 29, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, this is why the next President, no matter party, will have to rebuild the Federal bureaucracy.
This is not 'much ado about nothing'. This is how a party gets a permanent majority, by embedding their own neophytes into the professional jobs. Rooting them out to have real policy implementation will take multiple administrations. If you want this to keep going, then keep talking it down.
This is also the reason you're going to see another Katrina-like debacle after Senator Obama is elected President. You can have all the great leadership in the world, but the real Federal professionals have been decimated. Let's hope his talent to inspire draws the talent back into the fold.
July 29, 2008 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ms. Goodling was obviously coached by higher powers, who have also instructed her not to spill the beans. Since the corruption of the DOJ represents a threat to America, I suggest that Ms. Goodling be labeled an 'enemy combatant' and renditioned offshore for 'questioning' until she gives up the vital intelligence she is withholding.
July 29, 2008 12:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Speaking of infants, what a piece of work Goodling was. It takes an extraordinary amount of hubris combined with stupidity for someone to think that their Regent University degree somehow qualifies them to pass judgment on highly experienced career US Attorneys.
July 29, 2008 12:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
My thoughts exactly. She was a real warrior leading the GOP crusade...to illegally purge Democrats from DOJ. Got to have serious political experience for that role.
July 29, 2008 1:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bushco has gotten how many convictions for terrorism? After all the wiretapping, extreme renditions, torture, and what have you, they put up 3rd rate judges who can't perform. DHS spent at least $42 Billion of our money in 2007. Some ROI.
July 29, 2008 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
I feel the need to fix this:
Goodling viewed Battle's pick as a "political infant" who had not proved himself to the Republican Nazi Party, Battle told investigators.
For if you do not swear an oath to upholding the Constitution and if you are required to prove yourself to a party, how far from Nazi dogma are we?
July 29, 2008 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
What I would like to know is approximately how many people were hired while these policies were in place?
I'm assuming that since these were career positions, the hirees are largely still there and may be for their entire careers. This means the office of Justice will have these ultra conservative people working among the ranks and file there for a long time and has probably tilted the entire Department of Justice to the right. Is this an accurate assumption? No one on the news seems to be covering the ramifications of this for the future.
July 29, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think that may well be true. I know the American Constitution Society (the left's equivalent to the right-wing Federalist Society) is looking into it.
July 29, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
A lawsuit was filed by a previously identified applicant for illegal hiring practices (intern) at DOJ. As these applicants, like Hochul are identified, I would like to know if he can sue Monica Goodling (individually) and the DOJ for this criminal practices? I would like her and everyone who facilitated her behaviour to bear the financial burden of their criminal behaviour in addition to losing her(their) right to practice law.
July 29, 2008 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
What a horrible, lawless bunch. It makes one pine for the much more lawful Nixon administration.
July 29, 2008 3:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
These extremists participated in subversion-the overthrow of the United States.
That either matters or the Constitution and the country for which it stands is absolutely meaningless.
There is only one way to make sure this never happens again. This isn't Iran-Contra. This is the multiple year occupation of the U.S. by totalitarians.
http://www.light-to-dark.com/a_retrospective.html
July 29, 2008 5:49 PM | Reply | Permalink