Today, Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine and counsel for the Office of Professional Responsibility wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee and announced that their offices are expanding their U.S. attorney investigations to the allegations of the politicization of the Justice Department’s hiring practices. From their letter:

UPDATE: House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) responds.
And the subject of ‘caging’ that Monica ‘Jesus is the voice in my head’ Goodling talked about? Why don’t you investigate that?
May 30th, 2007 at 12:56 pmFor the latest news, document dumps, email archives, hearing transcripts and other essential materials in the firings of U.S. attorneys, see:
May 30th, 2007 at 12:59 pm“The U.S. Attorney Scandal Documents.”
Among the least surprising developments arising from Monica Goodling’s appearance before the House Judiciary Committee was the reflexive use of the “criminalization of politics” defense. Not by the witness, that is, but by Republican members of the committee themselves. That is to be expected. After all, whether the scandal involves Tom Delay, the outing of Valerie Plame, Jack Abramoff, or the U.S. attorneys purge, we can always count on the GOP to recast its rampant criminality as mere political disagreement.
For the details, see:
May 30th, 2007 at 1:00 pm“Politicizing Crime.”
This entire administration should be removed from office and put in jail, they are corrupt to the core, every last one of them. They act like the Mafia.
Patti1″ you are an idiot, even dogs hate you.
May 30th, 2007 at 1:03 pmTerry the turtle is right. Where is the outrage/coverage/investigations into the “Caging” that Goodling spoke of under oath?
May 30th, 2007 at 1:10 pmSummer Law Intern Program =
“SLIP”
Indeed they did. Indeed.
May 30th, 2007 at 1:13 pmThere is a trraw vote on Gonzo at http://xtra.newsweek.com/
May 30th, 2007 at 1:14 pmSorry people, but the Civil Rights division needed more diversity because its makeup was radically-democratic.
May 30th, 2007 at 1:16 pmIn my #7 ttraw sb straw, Sorry.
May 30th, 2007 at 1:23 pmThey act like the Mafia.
Patti1″ you are an idiot, even dogs hate you.
Comment by Buck Fush
No the Mafia has a code of honor. And you don’t get a higher position by having others do your dirty work for you.
May 30th, 2007 at 1:24 pmClinton fired US Attorneys for political purposes too.
Pleasure of the president.
The Civil Rights Division needed more diversity because its makeup was radically democratic. We can’t have a Civil Rights Division working to expand democracy. Duh.
May 30th, 2007 at 1:28 pmComment by RoboTroll 3000
You are no longer the product of choice on the shelf. CompTROLLER V-1 has taken over.
And also, being a democrat doesn’t always translate into advocating for “Democracy,” so get your story straight.
Though it’s not working well, isn’t the Republican intent of being in Iraq to forge a democracy that can sustain, equip, govern and defend itself? Either party can advocate for or reject any standard for a democracy.
May 30th, 2007 at 1:35 pmThe only thing that has occured at the “pleasure of the President” is the utter destruction and perverting of our beloved DOJ. We will catch them, the evidence is already in the hands of Congress. They do not want people like John Yoo to escape conviction. The expansion of the investigation is excellent news for all true Americans.
May 30th, 2007 at 1:37 pmThe curtain has been pulled back and their treasonous criminalty is being exposed. We the public are not yet privvy to just how deep and wide their criminal behavior is spread, but you can bet your bippy what has gone down in the civil rights division will be key.
Forget impeachement, they are all going to JAIL.
hellinabucket – here’s Greg Palast: http://www.gregpalast.com/the-goods-on-goodling-and-the-keys-to-the-kingdom/
“isn’t the Republican intent of being in Iraq to forge a democracy that can sustain, equip, govern and defend itself?”
I thought it was ‘imminent threat’ and ‘mushroom clouds’ and so on – did I miss something?
May 30th, 2007 at 1:43 pmIs this an attempt to delay congressional hearings on this matter while the DOJ pretends to do its investigation?
May 30th, 2007 at 1:43 pmIf you fire an at-will employee because she won’t sleep with you, you have violated the Civil Rights Act.
If you fire an at will-employee in an executive branch department (ie, one who serves at the pleasure of the president) for not using his office for partisan purposes, you have violated the Hatch Act.
It’s really very simple, trolls: even if the law gives you broad discretion in how you operate in a certain area, you are still not allowed to use that discretion in the furtherance of a crime.
If the speed limit is 45, and you speed up from 30 to 40 in order to run somebody over, you have commited vehicular homicide, even though the law gives your the discretion to decide whether to drive 30 mph or 40 mph.
May 30th, 2007 at 1:46 pmCompTROLLER sez:
“being a democrat doesn’t always translate into advocating for “Democracy,†so get your story straight.”
Unfortunately for you, dim-wit, you got your capitalizations all screwed up. One of the side-effects of the right-wing insistence on petty digs, no doubt.
For your info, “small d” democracy refers to the political system of majority rule that your boy GWB43 seems intent on exporting (but only to select countries). The political party that you were trying to demean in your juvenile fashion is properly spelled with a capital “D” as in “Democratic Party”.
Good try, though. Maybe you should have some systems diagnostics run on your circuits.
May 30th, 2007 at 1:47 pmI want to see federal indictments for the Caging operation.
It’s time to bust this organized crime family otherwise known as the GOP.
May 30th, 2007 at 1:48 pmI’m waiting for the president to say, “I can’t talk about that while there is an ongoing investigation.” This seems to have more to do with bottling up the controversy than getting to the bottom of it.
Or have we gotten to such a state that when Justice says we are undertaking an investigation, we believe they are lying through their teeth?
May 30th, 2007 at 1:48 pmAngry One @ May 30, 2007 @ 12:59 pm
I see that you post this here on every thread where it pertains and I wanted to THANK YOU. it’s quite a fine resource, so in case no one tells you often enough – I appreciate it and use it often….and it’s always on the thread where I expect it to be (bookmarked now).
Your efforts are not wasted. :)
May 30th, 2007 at 1:58 pmCan someone confirm whether it’s the case that Goodling is not subject to prosecution for any hiring activities found to have violated rules or laws because of the grant of immunity to testify before Congress.
Thanks all!
May 30th, 2007 at 1:59 pmCompTROLLER V-1:
“You are no longer the product of choice on the shelf. CompTROLLER V-1 has taken over.”
Hey, I just repeat what they program into me at RNC headquarters. Take it up with them.
May 30th, 2007 at 2:02 pmYou are no longer the product of choice on the shelf. CompTROLLER V-1 has taken over.
RoboTroll 3000, not to worry, PoopTroller V-1 isn’t fit to shine your shoes.
May 30th, 2007 at 2:02 pmI thought it was ‘imminent threat’ and ‘mushroom clouds’ and so on – did I miss something?
Comment by TerrytheTurtle — May 30, 2007 @ 1:43 pm
Oh no, that is so last week. You know our mission changes every time a member of the administration speaks. They keep moving the goal posts.
May 30th, 2007 at 2:04 pmRemember, we are alive at the pleasure of the president.
May 30th, 2007 at 2:06 pmComment by spit take
WOW. You stated absolutely nothing of note! What, did you believe for a minute that you were the textbook of Thinkprogress.org?
It’s a casual blog, so I don’t care about extensive proofreading, only argument. So please, go take your excessive academic tendencies elsewhere. Academics are said to be detached from the real world, anyways. Chowderhead.
May 30th, 2007 at 2:46 pmIs it just me or does it seem that when our facist friends at the DOJ expand their investigations, the actual amount of information coming out gets squeezed to a trickle?
I think they’ve figured out that by investigating themselves they don’t have to comment on the investigation or any findings. Ever.
Lots of tricks up their sleves these facists called Republicans
May 30th, 2007 at 2:46 pm#26 CompTROLLER:
Thanks for the critique. You may have misread my point. It’s not so much that you had confused the two forms of the word “democracy” as the fact that you used your mistaken understanding to form the basis of a criticism (unwarranted) of someone else.
I understand that you don’t like to be called on your mistakes, but that’s really no reason to then try to throw the blame on ME for pointing it out.
Oh, wait — what am I thinking? of couse there’s a reason — you’re a righty. It’s what you do when proven wrong.
May 30th, 2007 at 2:58 pmAngry one
I too use your site info often, thanks so much.
May 30th, 2007 at 3:00 pmGreat work.
They keep moving the goal posts.
Comment by Shane — May 30, 2007 @ 2:04 pm
The US Army is occupying Iraq so it can spread football to the great unwashed untermensch? I saw Chimpy yell ‘Are you ready for some football’ on TV a few years ago (couldn’t find the remote quick enough) – was that what that was about?
May 30th, 2007 at 3:01 pmthis afternoon, i’ve offered a few
May 30th, 2007 at 5:00 pmthoughts on the goodnews/bad news quotient
embedded in the OIG announcement — and the
wisely plain-spoken response of rep. john conyers. . .
Oh yeah, like they are really going to do anything about it. They are investigating themselves. What do you think their conclusion will be. It’s the fox guarding the hen house.
I believe that it is time for Congress to appoint an independent council to thoroughly investigate the Justice Department. And the person should not come from the DOJ!
May 30th, 2007 at 8:13 pm