Senate Dems Ask AG Mukasey to "Assess Damage" to DOJ

[L. Coyote]

Senate Dems Ask AG Mukasey to "Assess Damage" to DOJ
By Kate Klonick - August 1, 2008 - http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/senate_dems_ask_ag_mukasey_to.php


On the heels of the Senate Judiciary Committee's questioning on Wednesday of Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine, and the two recently released OIG reports, seven Democratic members of the committee have requested that Attorney General Michael Mukasey review the damage done to the DOJ by the illegal hiring practices.

Signed by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), and Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), the letter requests an assessment on the "long-term damage" done to the Department:

http://leahy.senate.gov/issues/USAttorneys/080108MukaseyLetterOnHiringPractices.pdf

Dear Attorney General Mukasey:
We write regarding two reports released by the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector
General (OIG) and Office of Professional Responsibility COPR) that document the improper"and illegal hiring process used by senior Department officials to Jill career positions throughout the Department. We are concerned that this process not only broke the law and the Department's own rules, but resulted in important positions throughout the Department being filled by unqualified, partisan attorneys.

The first joint report from OIG and OPR, released June 24, concluded that Department officials employed improper political and ideological screening tests for young attorneys hired into the Department's prestigious Honors Program and Summer Law Intern Program. According to this report, "many qualified candidates were deselected. . . because of their perceived political or ideological affiliations." This deeply flawed process calls into question whether those hired into two of the most important career employment programs at the Department were the most qualified candidates.

The second report, released earlier this week, documents the use of improper and illegal political and ideological considerations in the hiring of Assistant United States Attorneys, the placement of experienced attorneys in key detail and leadership positions, and the hiring of Immigration Judges and Board of Immigration Appeals members. In some cases, well-qualified applicants for these positions were passed over in favor of unqualified applicants who met a political litmus test. We find particularly troubling one case where a highly qualified counterterrorism detailee was rejected because of his wife's political affiliation. The candidate was a longtime Assistant U.S. Attorney who served as chief of the anti-terrorism unit in his U.S. Attorney's Office and had received the Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Service for his successful prosecution of a high profile terrorism case. Although the Director and staff at the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys believed he was the best candidate, he was passed over in favor of a prosecutor with no counterterrorism experience and fewer than the minimum number of years of prosecution experience required by the Department's job announcement.

We are concerned that the people hired into important career positions throughout the Department using the unlawful, politicized process described in the reports remain in place. 'This raises the troubling possibility that those positions are held by unqualified, partisan individuals. With this possibility extant, we believe it is inadequate for the Department simply to commit to discontinue
....

DOJ Report Shows Partisan Culture Reigned Beyond The Few Names Named
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/doj_report_shows_partisian_cul.php

Mukasey Tells DOJ Workers That Political Scandal Has "Harmed" Department
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/mukasey_tells_doj_workers_that.php

Inspector General Releases Report on Monica Goodling Hirings
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/inspector_general_releases_rep.php

[spanone]

1. i'm just sure he'll come back with a scathing report

:sarcasm:

[ixion]

2. Dems to Fox: "how's the hen house?"

Fox to Dems: "No trouble here."

:eyes:

[JDPriestly]

3. Finally. The shoe dropped.

Partisan extremists hold key positions in the Justice Department. The Bush administration needs to sort this out. This cannot be left for Obama to correct. The Congress needs to present and pass a law stating that all Bush appointees for these positions must be reviewed by the incoming president. Some of the appointees are probably doing a good job. Some are simply second rate Republican party hacks. We need balance in the DOJ.

[L. Coyote]

4. Now, time for the shoe to kick some .....

useles hacks out of the DoJ!

This inquiry really needs to go back to FL 2000 and elucidate how Bush stole the Executive in the first instance, and hence all judicial appointments are theoretically MUTE, fruit of the stolen vine!

[Junkdrawer]

5. "Hard to say" said Mukasey, swinging a sledge hammer. "I'm not done yet."

"I'll let you know."

[Solly Mack]

6. snort

Let's see...we're taking care of the problems, many of the issues have already been addressed, programs are in place to make sure these problems don't happen again..the DOJ, as a strong institution, will survive this... and is already on its way to being clean and healthy again...so long term damage isn't expected as actions were taken in time...

or words to that effect....

[Supersedeas]

7. "assess the damage done" !!?!! Will it surprise anyone if he finds NO DAMAGE--that despite political

hires the Dept. has done fairly well.

[librechik]

8. Damage? What damage? It's exactly the way it should be!

I'm sure Mukasey will get right in there and throw the moneychangers out of the temple.

[burythehatchet]

9. It is things like this that are pushing me closer to simply giving up the political process

i.e., not voting at all, ever.