Justice Dept. Used Pregnancy As Excuse To Appoint Griffin, Possibly Violating Discrimination Act
Justice Dept. Used Pregnancy As Excuse To Appoint Griffin, Possibly Violating Discrimination Act
In June 2006, the Justice Department fired Bud Cummins as U.S. attorney in Arkansas and replaced him with Karl Rove-protege Tim Griffin.
Traditionally, the Justice Department works with the state’s senators to come up with a replacement U.S. attorney. But in a Feb. 6, Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) confirmed that the Bush administration ignored his objections to Griffin.
In a Dec. 26, 2006 article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse explained that they “temporarily” appointed Griffin, rather than Bud Cummins’ deputy Jane Duke, because Duke was pregnant:
He noted that often, the first assistant U.S. attorney in the affected district will serve as the acting U.S. attorney until the formal nomination process begins for a replacement. But in this case, “the first assistant is on maternity leave,” he said, referring to Jane Duke, who gave birth to twins earlier than expected the same week of the announcement.
On Jan. 11, Pryor wrote a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and took issue with the Justice Department’s excuse:
I am astonished that the reason given by your office for the interim appointment is that the First Assistant U.S. Attorney is on maternity leave and therefore would not be able to perform the responsibilities of the appointment. … This concerns me on several levels, but most importantly it uses pregnancy and motherhood as conditions that deny an appointment. While this may not be actionable in a public employment setting, it clearly would be in a private employment setting. The U.S. Department of Justice would never discriminate against women in this manner.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act states that employers, including the federal government, cannot discriminate on the “basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.”
Therefore, based on Roehrkasse’s explanation, the Justice Department is either 1) guilty of sexual discrimination or 2) guilty of using sexual discrimination as an excuse for appointing a “loyal Bushie” as a federal prosecutor.
UPDATE: Check out more on this letter at Rolling Stone’s National Affairs Daily.
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61 Responses to “Justice Dept. Used Pregnancy As Excuse To Appoint Griffin, Possibly Violating Discrimination Act”
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Pryor is a Democrat.
March 20th, 2007 at 5:44 pmSo what? Bush administration officials are above the law.
Comment by RNC Spokesman Jake
March 20th, 2007 at 5:46 pmDamn! Someone should have told Bush about this BEFORE his speech!!!
March 20th, 2007 at 5:47 pmFor the latest news, hearings, legal filings and other essential documents on the Bush DOJ prosecutor firings, see:
March 20th, 2007 at 5:47 pm“The U.S. Attorney Scandal Documents.”
Please, guys…Arkansas is AR. AK is Alaska…
I did get a chuckle out of the (R) though…
Pryor votes with the GOP about 73% of the time…
March 20th, 2007 at 5:47 pmIs anyone keeping track of how many employment and anti-discrimination laws these guys have broken firing 8 people? If we go back over 6 years, I wonder how many women haven’t been hired because of gender?
March 20th, 2007 at 5:48 pmBreakin’ the what?
Breakin the LAW
Breakin’ the what?
Breakin the LAW
Breakin the LAW,Breakin the LAW,Breakin the LAW
March 20th, 2007 at 5:49 pmBreakin’ the……
Dubbie’s on the box right now, offering up another helping of the “partisan witchhunt” defense to his DoJ tinkerings, with a side order of “transparently insincere indignation”, a lame corrolary to the “trying to micromanage the war” line of bull…
what was it again that Cheney told Leahy???????
March 20th, 2007 at 5:50 pmObviously the Justice Department spokesperson is being taken out of context and misquoted. What he REALLY said was:
He noted that often, the first assistant U.S. attorney in the affected district will serve as the acting U.S. attorney until the formal nomination process begins for a replacement. But in this case, “the first assistant is a woman and we all know how silly and unpredictable girls can beâ€, he said and then continued, “but at least she ain’t blackâ€. The republicans in the audience then gave the spokesperson a standing ovation.
March 20th, 2007 at 5:50 pmBring home the troops…
…issue warrants for Bushiva and L’il Dick’s arrests…
…on charges of TREASON…
…deputize the ENTIRE Democratic electorate…
…in case Rove, Delay and the THUGS wanna obstruct justice being served…
March 20th, 2007 at 5:51 pmLet me guess,
Now Gonzo is your new best friend because in this case you agree with him. While I agree we should never discriminate because someone is pregnent, it confuses me why this is an issue since this lady certainly was garunteed this job. These are appointments by the US president. Afterall, he is allowed to hire anyone he wants and he is allowed to fire anyone he wants for whatever reason he wants. Gonzo is correct in saying they shouldn’t overlook someone because they are pregnant. He is also right when he said this isn’t an actionable offense. It is baffling they even mentioned this lady at. Why didn’t they simply write,” We hired who we hired because we felt like it”. That would be perfectly legal afterall.
March 20th, 2007 at 5:56 pmUS troops in Iraq want out
March 20th, 2007 at 5:56 pmThe Shit is getting deeper and deeper in here. Where are my boots?
March 20th, 2007 at 5:57 pmK just watch the speech Oh myyyyy
March 20th, 2007 at 5:58 pmUS troops in Iraq want out
For US troops from 9th Cavalry Regiment bumping around the dangerous streets of Baghdad in Humvees after dark on Monday, news that their deployment in Iraq could be extended fell like a hammer blow.
“We just want to get out of here as soon as possible,” said one vehicle commander in one of his few printable comments.
“It could be tempting to look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude our best option is to pack up and go home,” Bush said, four years to the day after he announced that American troops were fighting to depose Saddam Hussein.
But the lower ranks were in rebellious mood, especially after publication of a poll on Monday, commissioned by the BBC, ABC News, ARD German TV and USA Today, which showed only 18 percent of those questioned had confidence in US and coalition troops, while 78 percent opposed their presence.
March 20th, 2007 at 5:59 pmBush is on TV now weasling out of his part in the corruption scandal where US Attorneys were fired to protect CIA-Pentagon-Defense Contractor bribery and theft.
Time for the war crimes tribunal to be convened.
Indictments issued for Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rice, Rumsfeld, Libby for high crimes and misdemeanors for lying to Congress, selling military contracts to CIA dummy corps and contractors in exchange for bribes, and for the selling out of our children, our troops.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:00 pmThe Shit is getting deeper and deeper in here. Where are my boots?
Comment by GWB #13
…forget the boots…
…get your gun…
March 20th, 2007 at 6:02 pmExcuse me Roger, but what the hell are you talking about? Where in the post does it say anything about gonzo commenting one way or the other?
March 20th, 2007 at 6:04 pmrogerx2 Gonzo said it “may not be an actionable offense” big difference than isn’t and he also says the pregnancy played a part which is a direct violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. This won’t go away and it has more legs than the resultling birth.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:05 pmBush on TV saying Gonzales is “my guy.”
Yeah cause Gonzales knows too much about Bush for Bush to let him go. Gonzales knows where the bodies are buried.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:06 pmWow. things are unraveling quickly for Chimpy.
Too f*cking bad. :D
March 20th, 2007 at 6:07 pmGonzales is ‘my guy.’ Meaning Gonzales knows about all the skeletons in Bush’s closet (including the fact that Bush is in the closet).
March 20th, 2007 at 6:08 pmPregnancyGate will be next weeks scandal for the DOJ and Bush! Will it never end? Answer: No - not until we get to the very bottom of rotting pile of detritus called our government.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:08 pmYahoo News reports Bush threatens constitutional showdown. It’s high noon at the OK corral.
WASHINGTON - President Bush warned Democrats Tuesday to accept his offer to allow top aides to testify about the firings of federal prosecutors only privately and not under oath, or risk a constitutional showdown from which he would not back down.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:10 pmBush’s comments make it clear that he is ‘ASKING FOR IMPEACHMENT” because he knows he’s in way over his head and impeachment will offer him the easy way out. Otherwise it’s total ignorance of the wishes of Congress and the american people - which means that he will be summarily pitched out of office on his ear. He can’t be that ignorant as to believe that his posturing like a bully in the schoolyard will net him the respect of the american public?? It’s quite the reverse and he and his bully bud, Rove, will soon be punished for their antics.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:10 pmSee new topic and thread upstairs.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:10 pmHeads, we win- Tails, you lose, Repubs. This is how to play the game you would like to play- the RIGHT way- with a little more feeling, conviction and (gasp) integrity. God, I love the smell of justice, in the morning. -HEH, HEH-
March 20th, 2007 at 6:10 pmExcuse me Roger, but what the hell are you talking about? Where in the post does it say anything about gonzo commenting one way or the other?
Comment by Quadrajet
Roger keeps pulling new “facts” out of his a$$ to try to spin his “everything was legal ” theory.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:11 pmI gave up trying to understand what he is trying to say long ago, because he does not even understand what he is talking about lol
#22 You got it right! Can you just imagine how many skeletons this alcoholic, marauding fraud has in his closet? How many scrapes did Gonzo get this guy out of in the decades he’s used him to get his sorry butt out of trouble? It boggles one’s mind to even imagine the true extent of what Gonzo has on Bushie. Certainly, he can’t hang Gonzo out to dry or Gonzo will spill his guts. So, instead, he will go down the tubes with his partner in crime, Gonzo. It’s his choice but the american people will tell Leahy and Congress that this will not be “accepted” and we will not negotiate with traitors to our constitution.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:13 pmThis is the CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS which will bring down the Bush Empire and Presidency.
Anyone notice that the Dick, Cheney’s leg is acting up? Wanna bet that he takes a nice, long “medical leave” soon? It’s in the cards that it will be his “buy” out of being in the center of this scandal and the many, many scandals on the horizon.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:14 pmOh, cripes! Next thing you know, they’ll be nailing Chimpy’s ass to the wall! Do you think a lame duck can rise, like a loaf of bread? Watch for the signs, tune in and find out, my sisters and brothers. Peace-
March 20th, 2007 at 6:15 pm“Is anyone keeping track of how many employment and anti-discrimination laws these guys have broken firing 8 people? If we go back over 6 years, I wonder how many women haven’t been hired because of gender?
Comment by powkat
She wasn’t hired due to her gender - it was due to the natural biological constraints of pregnancy, and childbirth. We quit keeping track of the employment laws broken by Republicans since 2001. Why Dems should care about women treated badly by an administration is beyond comprehension. Maybe if GWB felt up staffers, “planted” cigars or got blow jobs from interns, progressives wouldn’t care.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:15 pm#30- Yeah- The only doctor who can diagnose his problem is in a country with no extradition treaty.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:17 pmnot until we get to the very bottom of rotting pile of detritus called our government.
Comment by veritas #23
veritas,
…”not until we get to the very bottom of (this) rotting pile of detritus called our government…
…under the criminal Bushite junta”…
…REMEMBER…
…Bushiva, L’il Dick and the right wing fascist TRAITORS…
…WANT to erode your faith in our system of government…
…THEY HATE Democracy, diversity, and our way of life…
…they are intentionally “starving the beast”…
…in other words…
…making gov’t LOOK corrupt, incompetent, and uncaring (of the people)…
…because THEY want YOU to turn against it…
…right into the arms of corporate, fascist, plutocratic,elitist TYRANNY…
…GET Bushiva and L’il Dick and their kind (destroy them politically, personally, economically)…
…their corporate co-conspirators and their supporters…
…and America WILL recover…
…but ONLY if JUSTICE prevails…
March 20th, 2007 at 6:20 pmWe all know how Valient is such a bastion of all things feminine.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:21 pmMaybe she should sue the bastards get them under oath.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:26 pmPregnancy/Gate = Violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act …..an impeachable offense???
March 20th, 2007 at 6:26 pmIt’s in the cards that it will be his “buy†out of being in the center of this scandal and the many, many scandals on the horizon.
Comment by veritas #30
…but he won’t escape…
…JUSTICE…
March 20th, 2007 at 6:27 pmAnd we ALL know how little Democrats and Progressives care about WOMEN….
Unlike Dr. Lewinsky, my father, would NOT have been proud of me - or the President. I love the HYPOCRISY level liberals sink to when they try to sound self-righteous. Tooo precious!
March 20th, 2007 at 6:28 pmPerhaps Rove can get out of testifying by using the preggers clause.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:36 pmThat’d be believable…
The revolution won’t be blogged at least not on TP
March 20th, 2007 at 6:38 pmDid someone say something….?
I thought not.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:52 pmUnlike Dr. Lewinsky, my father, would NOT have been proud of me - or the President. I love the HYPOCRISY level liberals sink to when they try to sound self-righteous. Tooo precious!
Comment by valiant venus
I doubt your father is proud of you now, Hagette. What are you talking about? BTW, have you taken your imaginary kids to see grandpa lately?
Does your father know how much you lie?
March 20th, 2007 at 7:05 pmDoes your father know how much you lie?
Comment by Zooey — March 20, 2007 @ 7:05 pm
How much she lies is probably a secondary concern to MA’s father, his first concern being how little she eats…..
March 20th, 2007 at 7:24 pmZoooey - My father died many years ago - but as he didn’t admire pimps, johns or hookers - I can say with a high degree of certainty that Dr. Lewinsky, Monica, Bill or Hillary would not be fit to polish my father’s halo.
March 20th, 2007 at 7:30 pm#19 Just because Bush chose someone else for the position doesn’t make it a crime. Futhermore, the email actually proves that Bush, ROve, and Gonzo had nothing to do with it. The suprise in Gonzo response proves how displeased he was with this random employee. Are the Dems now planning to investigate some random government employee over possible actions? Seems like that would be the justice departments job but then again, nothing is off limits in Schumers show trial. I am still waiting for TP to demand an investigation into Schumer. Schumer and TP have said repeatadly that it is not ok to interfere with on going investigations. Furthermore, they have both said it is completely wrong for politicans to have contact with attorney’s over on going investigations. Schumer has done both publicly. He is on record as interfering with an investigation. He is also on record making demands on how an investigation went while it was occuring. This is clearly an equal identical to what TP and Schumer have called wrong by the repugs. TP are you planning your post demanding Schumer get investigated and removed tonight yet or tommorrow? Do I need to show you the letter he wrote to the justice department making demands of them during on on going investigation? If what you said is a big deal, then Schumer is in alot of trouble. Can you impeach a Senator?
March 20th, 2007 at 7:36 pmThis is from Greg Palast about Rove’s choice of Tim Griffin for USA.
But the Committee missed a big one: Timothy Griffin, Karl Rove’s assistant, the President’s pick as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Griffin, according to BBC Television, was the hidden hand behind a scheme to wipe out the voting rights of 70,000 citizens prior to the 2004 election.
Key voters on Griffin’s hit list: Black soldiers and homeless men and women. Nice guy, eh? Naughty or nice, however, is not the issue. Targeting voters where race is a factor is a felony crime under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
In October 2004, our investigations team at BBC Newsnight received a series of astonishing emails from Mr. Griffin, then Research Director for the Republican National Committee. He didn’t mean to send them to us. They were highly confidential memos meant only for RNC honchos.
March 20th, 2007 at 8:18 pmShe wasn’t hired due to her gender - it was due to the natural biological constraints of pregnancy, and childbirth. We quit keeping track of the employment laws broken by Republicans since 2001. Why Dems should care about women treated badly by an administration is beyond comprehension. Maybe if GWB felt up staffers, “planted†cigars or got blow jobs from interns, progressives wouldn’t care. Comment by valiant venus — March 20, 2007 @ 6:15 pm
Wow, sure you’re a “mother”, that was permitted to serve as a JAG while pregnant and raising 4 children. You sound more like some jack*ss redneck - you st*pid c*nt!
As for your Clinton smear, blah, blah, blah, you’re probably right we wouldn’t care about Bush’s habits - after all, we just make fun of Gannon, and don’t make a criminal offense of that affair. We leave the fake moralizing, to the immoral *ssholes like yourself!
March 20th, 2007 at 9:17 pmAnd we ALL know how little Democrats and Progressives care about WOMEN…. Comment by valiant venus — March 20, 2007 @ 6:28 pm
We ALL know that? How LITTLE you say? You’re a st*pid c*nt.
Unlike Dr. Lewinsky, my father, would NOT have been proud of me - or the President. I love the HYPOCRISY level liberals sink to when they try to sound self-righteous. Tooo precious! Comment by valiant venus — March 20, 2007 @ 6:28 pm
Says the st*pid self righteous c*nt, trying to belittle dems for how LITTLE they care. I love the HYPOCRISY level you cons sink to when you try to sound self-righteous!
I can say I would agree, that your father would NOT be proud of you, for the st*pid c*nt you’ve turned out to be. What *sane* father would? You’re a loser, a phony, a liar, and self righteous hypocritical c*nt!
March 20th, 2007 at 9:19 pmDespicable.
March 20th, 2007 at 9:48 pmEITHER REASON IS MORE THAN ENOUGH REASON FOR DISMANTLING THE CURRENT IN-Justice Dept. AND CLEANING HOUSE, WHICH ENTAILS TRACING THE FOETID TRAIL OF CORRUPTION RIGHT BACK TO THE white house, Rove, CHIMPya, Bushland Uber Allies, AND GETTING RID OF THE CREEPS INVOLVED THROUGH CHIMPEACHMENT OR PARABELLUMS TO THEIR CEREBELLUMS!!!!!
March 20th, 2007 at 11:50 pmIncompetent lawyers who don’t know the law and put it all on writing?
Sounds like they were valiant venus’ class mates back in Law School.
March 21st, 2007 at 12:43 amShort Roger*2:
Pres Bush cannot ever break the law, because the law is whatever he says it is. And Pres Bush is above that law too.
March 21st, 2007 at 12:43 amDamn!! The Dems have caught on that IF they read the Patriot Act, they might actually know what it contains….Hmmmm….
March 21st, 2007 at 1:02 amDamn!! The Dems have caught on that IF they read the Patriot Act, they might actually know what it contains….Hmmmm…. Comment by valiant venus — March 21, 2007 @ 1:02 am
Damn!!! The Republicans realized that if they didn’t give everyone time to *read* the patriot act before passing it, they could get their *republican-majority* to simply pass it without allowing the Dems a chance to read it, and correct its problems!
Isn’t it nice Mighty Anorexic to have “Authoritarian” control over congress? It’s so much easier to bring on FASCISM, while blaming those that are its victims!
Were you always a hate filled, immoral st*pid c*nt, or is it a side effect of your mental illness?
March 21st, 2007 at 2:15 amHow much you guys want to bet that Mighty C*nt was one of the rightwingnuts that belittled Byrd when he criticized the ramming of the Patriot act through the Republican controlled senate with no real debate or bipartisanship. I’m sure she’s the sort of hateful c*nt that blames women when they get date r*ped, in the same way the Dems got date r*ped in this case.
What a disgust st*pid c*nt she is!
March 21st, 2007 at 2:18 am[…] to ThinkProgress In a Dec. 26, 2006 article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Justice Department spokesman Brian […]
March 21st, 2007 at 2:32 amFinally people are getting angry - I call for indictments not resignations or impeachment. These guys are crooks and killers and treason is the crime. They fooled many people in many ways and it cost this country and it will continue to cost this country. Hold them accountable or the next guy and his gang may do the same thing.
March 21st, 2007 at 6:15 am[…] from Think Progress […]
March 22nd, 2007 at 12:26 pm[…] things into legislation and who is now the U.S. Attorney for Utah. [Incidentally, Rove protege Tim Griffin help develop plans to have US Attorney Bud Cummins in Arkansas fired, then he himself was installed, thanks to the above mentioned provision installed into the […]
March 27th, 2007 at 7:38 pm[…] noted by the weblog Think Progress, after Griffin was appointed interim U.S. attorney in Arkansas, […]
March 31st, 2007 at 1:38 am