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Schlozman Doesn't Remember Native American Voter Discrimination Case
Former head of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice Bradley Schlozman doesn't remember an alert from the U.S. attorney in Minnesota that Native American voters might be the target of voter discrimination.
Los Angeles Times profiled the U.S. attorney from Minnesota, Thomas Heffelfinger, last week who was named on one of the firings lists. Schlozman tried to discredit the story today in his testimony, but also said he never spoke about the case with anyone and does not remember any details. (This was just after Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) pointed out that he remembers less than U.S. Attorney Alberto Gonzales did during his testimony.)
The Los Angeles Times pointed out similarities between Heffelfinger and other U.S. Attorneys that were fired or on a list for possible firing. Heffelfinger appeared on a list after raising a concern that Native Americans might be disenfranchised:
Citing requirements in a new state election law, Republican Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer directed that tribal ID cards could not be used for voter identification by Native Americans living off reservations. Heffelfinger and his staff feared that the ruling could result in discrimination against Indian voters. Many do not have driver's licenses or forms of identification other than the tribes' photo IDs.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) confronted Schlozman today over what she painted as a contradiction between rushing four voter-fraud indictments just before an election in Missouri and the Justice Department's decision to ignore Heffelfinger's complaint:
Comments (20)
dave wrote on June 5, 2007 4:37 PM:Leahy's from VT; Specter's the guy from PA.
profmarcus wrote on June 5, 2007 4:46 PM:wow...! i thought leahy was on fire until i heard SCHUMER...!
now, i'm not ordinarily prone to making snide personal attacks, but the tone, tenor, and pitch of schlozman's voice makes me want to grab him by the neck and choke the ever-loving daylights out of him... his reputation is one of being very high-handed, arrogant, dismissive, and verbally abusive (certainly a big asset for a loyal bushie), and, with a voice like that, it's a wonder someone hasn't arranged a back-ally encounter a long time ago...
http://takeitpersonally.blogspot.com/
Bucketochicken wrote on June 5, 2007 4:57 PM:WOW. I could smell Brad's panicked flop-sweat all the way out here in Chicago.
Are all these blatantly incompetent morons hired to such important positions on purpose? I mean, are they supposed to serve as some sort of buffer or shield to the higher-up cats who are REALLY doing (or ordering, anyway) the damage? Are they there solely to follow orders and be the ones who get their hands dirty, therefore also being the ones who will take any heat/punishment? Or are all the people at the top & pulling all the strings incompetent hack idiots too?
merrimarr wrote on June 5, 2007 5:10 PM:Yes,Profmarcus, I'm glad I'm not the only one. Reminds me of a schoolyard bully when I was in grade school -- a rich fat boy who tried to make all the kids do what he wanted, with exactly the same yucky voice!
KilgoreTrout XL wrote on June 5, 2007 5:15 PM:Why did we think this guy would remember any more than all the rest?? None of them remember anything, don't recall, wasn't there. Republican case of amnesia!
This really is all for naught. Every former DoJ staff member can say "I dont recall" till the cows come home. Without a smoking gun, there's nothing anyone can do about it.
In that light, I think they're being far too easy on him as well. Since we all know that this will never actually go anywhere, the only service this hearing could provide is to disgrace and destroy the witness, here a treasonous, democracy-theiving, waste-of-space. This is the only chance you're gonna get.
Raising your voice a bit, putting on a face that expresses annoyance with Bradley, and then letting him go on his chubby, poor-facial haired, merry way makes all this even more pointless than it already was.
Squeeky wrote on June 5, 2007 5:22 PM:Time to take him outside and hang him high by the little round things in the bag below his belly button.
Code word = fear... I could taste the fear all the way over here.
Anonymous wrote on June 5, 2007 5:36 PM:I was just waiting for Brad to blurt out something like "O'Doyle rules" a la Billy Madison.
What a sad, sad performance.
Didn't know ACORN leans Democratic? I wonder if he knows that the GOP leans Republican.
2turk wrote on June 5, 2007 5:58 PM:The GOP leans to the Republican Party ?
PJ White wrote on June 5, 2007 6:01 PM:Now that is news to Bradley "The Lying Fascist" Schlozman. And Reagan was a Conservative Republican - Bradley thought he was a rabid Green Party member. This political stuff is all so confusing - why can't everyone just be a Nazi/Fascist - it would make everything so much easier. Then everyone could just proudly wear a swastika on their lapel.
When Brat had his Homer Simpson moment and actually brought up e-mails that the DoJ has not turned over to the committee, you could practically hear him say, "Doh!" Leahy jumped right on it and told him to either produce them or he would be subpoenaed and the documents would be as well. Heh heh heh. He considered his answers very carefully. He probably was sweating bullets after Scooter got sentenced today. He wanted to be sure he couldn't be caught in one of his lame lies. He would probably not fare very well in Da Big House, he's such a smarmy little pipsqueak.
mo2 wrote on June 5, 2007 6:08 PM:It felt like some Senators, especially Feinstein and Schumer, knew the answers to their questions and were just giving Schlozman an opportunity to lie or tell the truth. And Schlozman could feel it, too, it seemed to me.
So, when will the Senate hear from Craig Donsanto? I bet Donsanto wants to clear his name after today.
Garth wrote on June 5, 2007 6:14 PM:everyone of this sad, pathetic parade of bigotted children placed in positions of authority reminds me of Elsworth Twoohey/KKKarl from Fountainhead, surrounding himself with mediocrities he could puff up and use to conceal his lust for power.
second-handers... everyone of 'em.
chisholm wrote on June 5, 2007 6:17 PM:Sweet Land of Goshen this is all such an absurd exercise in impotence. Wake me up when they seize some computers!
Garth wrote on June 5, 2007 6:23 PM:I'm reading Louis Nizer's My Life In Court and he just made the most apt analogy :)
In regards to these types of know-nothing witnesses, he described them as small octupi that eject an inky black fluid to distract you from pinning them down. They twist and wiggle and dodge and just when you think you've got them, be prepared for the black ink.
KKKarl Twoohey: But, W? To understand why no one will help you now, you should ask yourself if you were ever really qualified to be President in the first place.
Anonymous wrote on June 5, 2007 6:23 PM:KilgoreTrout XL: Ask Libby if they need a smoking gun.
diogenes wrote on June 5, 2007 6:27 PM:Who was the dude sitting one or two rows back behind Shlozman...the one with the beard who was scowling the whole time? I've seen him before at hearings. I could have sworn that he worked for Jesse Helms at one time. He has to be some sort of RNC operative. I would appreciate any information.
Leahy had some great one-liners for the obfuscator.
Anonymous wrote on June 5, 2007 6:27 PM:Libby rolled the dice and lost. Aside from writing a book or talking to the press (on the record, that is) there's little damage he can do now.
The Administration knows this. And Scooter Libby's calls will no longer be returned. And that pardon request, sorry, must have gotten lost in the paper shuffle to attack Iran.
Also interesting to note that I Lewis "Scooter" will not be voting in future elections since he's a felon.
Garth wrote on June 5, 2007 6:33 PM:bush is gonna give Scooter a purple heart for taking one for the team.
Ron Byers wrote on June 5, 2007 6:39 PM:That the White House is not going to pardon Scooter is not lost on the entire parade in the US Attorney case. What to they have to gain by continuing to protect their bosses.
Time for a special prosecutor to start with Brad and Hans and then eat his way up the food chain.
Security code-fear, how apt.
a non wrote on June 5, 2007 6:55 PM:Schlozman is lying when he suggests that Craig Donsanto ordered him to do anything. Craig is a longtime career attorney in the Public Integrity Section within the Criminal Division. He's well respected, but he's not the section chief, which means he's well down the totem pole -- underneath his section chief, the Crim Div Deputy Assistant Attorneys General (DAAGs), and the Senate-appointed Assistant AG in charge of Crim.
In short, Craig Donsanto may have advised Schlozman, but he sure as hell wasn't in a position to order him around. No, it's Schlozman who, as a political appointee, had all the power in that relationship.
Anonymous wrote on June 5, 2007 7:57 PM:and, with a voice like that, it's a wonder someone hasn't arranged a back-ally encounter a long time ago...
http://takeitpersonally.blogspot.com/
Posted by: profmarcus
Agree