Report finds politics played role at DOJ
Posted: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 11:21 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Pete Williams
From NBC’s Pete WilliamsA report out today describes what is unquestionably the most blatant case of inappropriate consideration of politics in the hiring of career lawyers at the Justice Department under the tenure of former Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales.
The report is strongly critical of Bradley Schlozman, a former deputy in the Civil Rights Division who also served as its acting director.
According to the Justice Department's inspector general, Schlozman regularly made reckless comments about lawyers and applicants for jobs that he considered too liberal -- which, for him, apparently covered a lot of ground.
He called some career lawyers "libs" and "pinkos" and described others as "disloyal," "not on the team" or "treacherous." Those he endorsed he called "RTA's," which stood for "right thinking Americans."
An analysis of the hirings under his watch found that 64% were Republicans or conservatives, compared with only 4% of the hirings in which he was not involved. Two percent of the hirings were Democrats or liberals under Schlozman, compared to 23% when he was not involved.
The inspector general's report concluded that Schlozman made false statements when he testified to Congress that he did not consider political or ideological leanings in his personnel decisions. However, federal prosecutors in Washington declined to prosecute.
