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Holder: "I Will Review That Determination" Not To Prosecute Schlozman

Not that it's likely, but Brad Schlozman may want to hope that Eric Holder's confirmation somehow gets derailed.

That's because Holder just told the Senate Judiciary committee that he wants to reconsider the Bush Justice Department's curious decision not to bring criminal charges against Schlozman, a former top department official who was found by a DOJ investigation to have politicized hiring decisions, then lied about it to Congress in an effort to cover it up.

Asked about the issue moments ago by Sen. Dianne Feinstein -- one of the lawmakers to whom Schlozman was found to have given an untruthful answer during testimony -- Holder declared: "I want to know why the determination was made not to pursue charges."

Here's his answer in full:

I understand that prosecutors in the US attorney's office in DC -- again, just based on the press reports, actually reviewed the report and then made a prosecutive determination.

If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed as Attorney General, I will indicate to you that I will review that determination. I don't know all the facts of the case, but given the findings in the Inspector General's report that are consistent with what you have said, I want to know why the determination was made not to pursue charges, criminal charges.

Asked by Feinstein about the report's findings more broadly, Holder responded:

I have not had a chance to read the report, Senator, and yet I have read the news accounts of it. What's contained in the report is very disturbing. The notion that the Justice Department would ever take into account a person's political affiliation or political beliefs in making hiring decisions is antithetical to everything the department stands for and everything I'm familiar with.

I served very proudly in the Justice Department, under Republican Attorneys General, Democratic Attorneys General, and it was never a thought given to what your party affiliation was, what your political beliefs were in hiring, in promotion decisions. What we have seen in that report I think is aberrant, but is also I think one of the major tasks the next Attorney General is going to have to do. You have to reverse that.

So we may not have seen the last word on this.

Late Update:
Here's video of the exchange between Feinstein and Holder about Schlozman:


23 Comments

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RUH,ROO!!!!!

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Holder is making sure he consistently does not make polarizing partisian statemetns. This is excellent.
We have to get all this acrimony on the basis of party affiliation out of the justice system and out of government if we are to govern this nation effectively.

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How can this guy be any good as attorney general -- he actually reads things and then remembers what he read. Disqualified!!

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>>How can this guy be any good as attorney general -- he actually reads things and then remembers what he read.

He must be a Democrat.

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Breaking: Schlozman last seen getting into a Piper Turboprop, carrying a parachute . . .

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Bravo.

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LOL

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That high pitched squeaky voice isn't going to serve the Schloz well in prison. Here's hoping for justice!

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Schlozman is practicing law in Kansas. I hope he gets disbarred. Of course, if he is punished, he will never understand why.

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This is great news -- for Bradley Schlozman!

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Am I the only one who is getting totally pumped up for the new Justice Department?

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As a DOJ attorney (that seems to be how I am starting a lot of posts recently, it seems), let me say: hell no.

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Excellent. Yeah for new AG and DOJ !!!!

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Holder will be confirmed. Everybody employed by the DOJ that used race and political leansing to determine if a individual should be hired should be fired AAP!

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I mean fired ASAP

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Firing Federal Civil Service attorneys isn't all that easy. The solution is to determine how many Federal Civil Service attorneys have more than 8 years of service and then run a furlough reducing the number of Federal Civil Service attorneys to that level.

After a year or so, begin hiring law school graduates from the top law schools rather than from fourth tier law schools like Regents.

If necessary, set up a different department and hire them outside the DOJ.

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Holder will review the decision to allow the forgiveness of lawbreakers because of its impact on the reputation of the US Attorneys Office. A very similar analysis applies to the Bush/Cheney war crimes that Obama doesn't want to review because he wants to "look forward". The torture, rendition, and other abuses have severely damaged the reputation of the US and holding them accountable would purge the taint when we do go forward on the world stage.

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The fact that the current DOJ has decided not to prosecute does not, in any way, prevent a future DOJ from prosecuting.

The Schloz perpetrated one of the most damaging blows to the concept that the USA is a country ruled by laws, rather than outside the laws by one person's ideology.

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Do you think The Schloz's employer (a law firm in Wichita, KS) may be getting more than a few phone calls and emails asking how can they employ this freakshow? Would YOU want this guy representing your firm--or you? It can't be too good for business, I would think. I just want to add, for me personally, The Schloz is the undistilled essence of the corruption and failure of the Bush Years. When I think about it I just want to go take a shower.

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My sentiments exactly. After 8 years of the Bush administration, I need to be completely hosed down! (And if you want to throw in a chemical scrub by an East German woman named Hilda that couldn't hurt either).

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An easy start would be to look for the Liberty U grads first. Bush has made de-Nazifying and de-Bushifying nearly the same thing whereas conservatives have made de-Nazifying and de-Republicanizing equal.

Scholz is a rat and never should have been allowed to work for the DoJ during the '08 campaign after he had been forced out to begin with. That was a perfect example of what is wrong at the DoJ...keeping him on salary despite his obvious prejudice.

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So Schlozman made hiring and personnel decisions based on political considerations. Yes, that's wrong. But some yet unnamed DoJ official made a decision, based on political considerations, not to prosecute Schlozman when the evidence showed him to be guilty of a crime. Is that not a lot worse? I should think that Holder should take the latter case more seriously, even if it did arise from the former.

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This is a good thing, that Bush Administration DOJ cronies are not prosecuting Schlozman.
Can anyone trust that the result of such a prosecution wouldn't be questionable? It's tainted.

Here's what should happen:

The new administration prosecutes Schlozman, and Schlozman must use Regent U. graduates to defend himself.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

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