Bush Officials Mocked Sen. Pryor’s Concerns About Gender Discrimination At DoJ
Bush Officials Mocked Sen. Pryor’s Concerns About Gender Discrimination At DoJ
In June 2006, the Justice Department fired Bud Cummins as U.S. attorney in Arkansas and replaced him with Karl Rove-protege Tim 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.
As ThinkProgress noted earlier, on Jan. 11, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) wrote a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and expressed concern with the maternity leave excuse, saying that it “concerns me on several levels, but most importantly it uses pregnancy and motherhood as conditions that deny an appointment.” He added, “The U.S. Department of Justice would never discriminate against women in this manner.”
Today, Murray Waas reveals that the Justice Department has withheld several e-mails from congressional investigators, including one “in which Sampson wrote to six other senior Justice Department officials and derided Pryor’s letter“:
The PDF below is an outrageous letter we got from Sen. Pryor; we don’t think it has hit the press yet. … [The Justice Department has been asked to] respond to the allegation that we troglodytes discrimatorialy [sic] passed over the FASU [First Assistant U.S. Attorney] because she is apparently a mother out on maternity leave.
In recent written testimony provided to the House Judiciary Committee, Cummins confirms that pregnancy and motherhood were used as excuses to deny an appointment. He said that Roehrkasse’s statement was “ridiculous” and “mocked” by people in the Arkansas legal community because Duke would have been perfectly able to serve as an interim U.S. attorney “for six weeks or more” if she would have been asked.
Additionally, as Waas notes, “Sampson and the White House had decided to name Griffin as a U.S. attorney in June 2006 even before Duke knew she was pregnant.”
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38 Responses to “Bush Officials Mocked Sen. Pryor’s Concerns About Gender Discrimination At DoJ”
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Kyle Sampson was at least accurate in one portion of his statement:
May 10th, 2007 at 3:06 pm"we troglodytes"
Racists, sexists, warmongers, liars, killers.
and these people claim and their media mouthpieces claim that people who oppose the wars and the rest of their policies "hate" america, or are "with the terrorists?"
disgusting. these criminals in office are the ones who act like they hate everything that America is supposed to stand for - peace, liberty, equality, the bill of rights, etc....
Some interesting reading:
May 10th, 2007 at 3:07 pm"The America-Haters Strike Again"
http://www.populistamerica.com/the_america_haters_strike_again
It's interesting how Kyle could manage to spell "troglodytes" properly, yet misspell "discriminatorily" so badly...
May 10th, 2007 at 3:11 pmPryor is a Democrat.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:19 pmI am offended to be compared with that bottom-feeder Kyle Sampson.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:21 pmmurray's got the e-mails.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:21 pmSee one of the problems with illegal aliens at this link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOe5uYFcXzY&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eprisonplanet%2Ecom%2Farticles%2Fmay2007%2F100507illegalscheer%2Ehtm
Dissent is critical in the USA so now we see that illegal aliens have more protection than a dissenting citizen. I can't wait to hear all the BS the TP’ers promote on this since we are talking about the 1st, 4th, 10th & 14th Amendments
May 10th, 2007 at 3:22 pmPyror is going on another fishing expedition.
Too bad he doesn't get to decide who the President and his Justice department appoints.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:23 pm1st, 4th, 10th & 14th Amendments?
Chimpy destroyed them years ago.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:24 pmAny of you Trolls out there that can read, please do so before commenting.
By the way, this 'serving at the pleasure of the President' shit is getting really, really worn out. Obfuscating the nature of deceit and politicization is just what the people we're complaining about have been doing.
It's not a talking point. It's also terrifyingly similar to how real terrorists justify their behavior.
If any of you Trolls think for a moment that Bush & Rove were doing the right thing with the USA's, you're crazier than those bitches in the WH.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:25 pmWASHINGTON - President Bush, under growing political pressure, agreed Thursday to negotiate with Congress on a war-spending bill that sets benchmarks for progress in Iraq.
yahoo news home page
May 10th, 2007 at 3:27 pmLike it or not, but pregnant women should not work stressful jobs. It's not good for them or the baby.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:27 pm"fishing expedition" is today's bul;shit Repuke talking point.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:28 pmWASHINGTON - President Bush, under growing political pressure, agreed Thursday to negotiate with Congress on a war-spending bill that sets benchmarks for progress in Iraq.
yahoo news home page
Bush's willingness to put benchmarks in a war-funding bill represented a shift by the president.
"One message I have heard from people of both parties is that benchmarks make sense and I agree," Bush said.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:30 pmPyror is going on a fishing expedition...for Repuke bottom feeders.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:31 pmMore non-binding benchmarks.
Big freakin' deal.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:35 pmWhjat the hell, they've made a mockery of Justice, public service and just about everything else they've tried to affect, why not mock one more email?
May 10th, 2007 at 3:36 pmLike it or not, but pregnant women should not work stressful jobs. It’s not good for them or the baby.
Comment by BottomBoy — May 10, 2007 @ 3:27 pm
Well than, welfare for all pregnant women. Who can decide what's stressful?
May 10th, 2007 at 3:37 pmPyror is going on another fishing expedition.
Too bad he doesn’t get to decide who the President and his Justice department appoints. Comment by m12 — May 10, 2007 @ 3:23 pm
Fishing expedition? You must be thinking of Ken Starr and the rest of the GOP. How you love to project your own st*pid and immoral values on others, while perpetrating the most corrupt, inept and incapable administration in American History. You're a complete idiot.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:37 pmGood news Tobey, thanks for the update.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:38 pmIt doesn't seem to matter how far down the trolls go, there is always somewhere lower for them to plumb. They are like zombies: they are relentless, thoughtless, and remorseless.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:39 pmTAKE TWO:
See one of the problems with illegal aliens at this link…
http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=IOe5uYFcXzY&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eprisonplanet%2Ecom%2Farticles%2Fmay2007%2F100507illegalscheer%2Ehtm
Dissent is critical in the USA so now we see that illegal aliens have more protection than a dissenting citizen. I can’t wait to hear all the BS the TP’ers promote on this since we are talking about the 1st, 4th, 10th & 14th Amendments
May 10th, 2007 at 3:39 pmKRank,
May 10th, 2007 at 3:40 pmTo Kill A Mockingbird
dont say non binding
May 10th, 2007 at 3:40 pmCaption:
May 10th, 2007 at 3:41 pm'Did I just shit my pants?'
Speaking of bottom feeders - the sharks are circling, and they all smell blood from the Chums at the whitehouse!
May 10th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/
dont say non biding they just not decided what benchmarks but Bush willing and even says good idea
May 10th, 2007 at 3:42 pmNow Abu Gonzalez has let it out that Bush was at least told about the firings, and may have participated. It was the relatively small crime of Watergate that brought down Nixon. I wonder if this is what's going to bring down Bushco?
May 10th, 2007 at 3:49 pmIt's a piscine contest. Neo-cons hate Hemingway's The Old Man in the Sea. But I'm sure they wished this fishing expedition would end quickly as the DoJ is starting to look like Jonah's whale. Or, if Mr Bush is reading this, Pinocchio's Monstro.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:53 pmIn case those out there forget, "troglodytes" was a word introduced into the public consciousness by Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed .... discussing their Indian clients!
May 10th, 2007 at 4:01 pmwell, they use a previously court awarded disability against you if you are forced to reapply for Social Security benefits too. They do not honor their past court actions!
May 10th, 2007 at 4:02 pmIT IS OUTRAGEOUS>
Well than, welfare for all pregnant women. Who can decide what’s stressful?
You can decide what you feel is stressful. But you aren't entitled to a job working for the Attorney General.
May 10th, 2007 at 4:22 pmFrom the article:
Please,
May 10th, 2007 at 4:32 pmContinue to pray that those who know of wrongdoing in the Bush Administration continue to come forward with evidence and testimony.
Troglodytes - I thought that they came into favor in the 70's or 80's when D&D introduced the characters. It is coined from a name applied to people who built their dwellings from caves, using extracted stone as a facade. Modern cave men. They are cool in the summer and don’t really require much heat in the winter.
May 10th, 2007 at 4:33 pm(RE- introduced
May 10th, 2007 at 4:34 pminto the public consciousness by jack and ralph...)
wasn't there a rock group in the 60's called the "Trogs"?
May 10th, 2007 at 5:28 pmCaption contest:
May I go to the bathroom... right now?
May 10th, 2007 at 6:33 pmHorsepukey on what the pregnant women can't handle it crap. When you men pass a baby through your loins you can comment. Weaker sex my tw*t! I worked full-time up to 33 weeks and half-time till my twins were born. None of us suffered any ill affects.
It's one thing if there are medical recommendations by a woman's physician during pregnancy regarding work and other activities. Otherwise, no one else should have the power to make such discriminatory and sweeping proclamations - not even the most evil corrupt group of scum to be not elected to office.
May 11th, 2007 at 2:15 pm