Bradley Schlozman 101: How To Politicize The Justice Department
Bradley Schlozman 101: How To Politicize The Justice Department
Today at 2:30 pm ET, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing featuring Bradley Schlozman, the controversial political appointee at the Justice Department who has emerged as a central figure in both the U.S. attorneys scandal and the politicization of the Justice Department under the Bush administration.
Schlozman, who is currently working in the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, also served for three years in the Justice Dept’s Civil Rights Division. In March 2006, he was appointed, without Senate confirmation, to replace Todd Graves as a U.S. Attorney in Missouri.
In advance of today’s hearing, he’s an overview of his dirty work:
Schlozman replaced fired U.S. attorney who refused to endorse a voter fraud lawsuit championed by Schlozman: U.S. attorney Todd Graves “may have been on a list for replacement because of his refusal to endorse a lawsuit against the State of Missouri alleging voter fraud before the 2006 election.” The same lawsuit had been approved by Schlozman when he was Acting Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division and was then filed soon after he was appointed as Graves’s successor.
Voter fraud case championed by Schlozman found to have “no evidence” by federal judge: On April 14, 2007, a federal judge ruled that a lawsuit pushed by Schlozman against the Missouri Secretary of State showed “no evidence” voter fraud. “It is also telling that the United States has not shown that any Missouri resident was denied his or her right to vote as a result of deficiencies alleged by the United States,” Judge Nanette Laughrey wrote. “Nor has the United States shown that any voter fraud has occurred.”
Disregarding DoJ policy, Schlozman filed voter fraud indictments a week before 2006 election: As an interim U.S. attorney in Missouri, Schlozman brought “felony indictments of four workers for a liberal activist group on voter registration fraud charges less than a week before the 2006 election,” a move that ran counter to a longstanding standing policy in the Justice Department about exercising caution in bringing indictments in election law or voter fraud cases close to election because they can potentially influence the result of the election.
Schlozman killed investigation of Native American voter suppression in Minnesota: A U.S. attorney in Minnesota was alarmed that a GOP official’s plan to bar certain uses of Tribal IDs for voter identification would result in electoral discrimination against Indian voters. When an investigation was recommended, Schlozman, advised “not to do anything without his approval” because of the “special sensitivity of this matter,” effectively ending the investigation.
Like Goodling, Schlozman politicized hiring in Civil Rights Division: Under Schlozman, eight lawyers hired by the Justice Dept’s Civil Rights Division “largely because of their Republican or conservative connections.” Schlozman asked appointees “to delete mention on their resumes of Republican affiliations,” to “make it look like it was apolitical.”
You can watch Schlozman’s testimony today HERE and HERE. He will be followed by Todd Graves, one of the fired U.S. attorneys, whom he replaced.
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In March 2006, he was appointed, without Senate confirmation, to replace Todd Graves as a U.S. Attorney in Missouri.
Let’s try to keep that in mind. Gonzales swore that this would not happen, and Schlozman is living proof of Gonzo’s deceitfulness.
June 5th, 2007 at 1:24 pm“I don’t recall”
or
“On advice from my attorney, I plead the 5th Amendment”
Drinking game anyone…?
June 5th, 2007 at 1:25 pmFor the latest news, document dumps, email archives, hearing transcripts and other essential materials in the firings of U.S. attorneys, see:
June 5th, 2007 at 1:25 pm“The U.S. Attorney Scandal Documents.”
the federal government IS politicized…that’s the nature of politics!! This is just a pretty good example of what happens when we trust politicians….
The founders always told us to have a strong distrust of government…I feel that we lost that for many years, and the result has been all the corruption that we’ve seen under the Bush administration. It was inevitable..
Some reading on this:
June 5th, 2007 at 1:27 pm“Beware of Politicians with Good Intentions”
http://www.populistamerica.com/beware_of_politicians_with_good_intentions
Another Repuke criminal. He belongs in prison.
June 5th, 2007 at 1:29 pmi hope our esteemed senators nail this scumbag to the wall… i hope they’re using greg palast’s highly incriminating evidence and that they fully explore schlozman’s connection to karl rove… i, for one, will be hanging on every minute of the hearing…
And, yes, I DO take it personally
June 5th, 2007 at 1:29 pmHe looks like another Republiqueer.
That big flavor-saver goatee is a dead giveaway.
I bet he gave Gonzo a blowjob to get his job.
June 5th, 2007 at 1:30 pmDon’t let him get to close to the microphone, he might mistake it for a tasty aspen sapling…..
June 5th, 2007 at 1:32 pmWhatever happened to EARNING your job?
June 5th, 2007 at 1:32 pmWhatever happened to EARNING your job?
Comment by Proud Dem
Sheesh….that went out with abiding by the law and being responsible for one’s self.
Get with the times, man.
Heh.
June 5th, 2007 at 1:38 pmFunny how the Repuke trolls aren’t defending this a$shole.
But they always crawl out from under their bridge to deny global warming.
June 5th, 2007 at 1:47 pmBradley Schlozman 101: How To Politicize The Federal Government
A simple suggestion, TP….
could you perhaps change the title to ..
“How To Politicize the Justice Department”?
(The current title is something of an oxymoron…..)
June 5th, 2007 at 1:52 pmIs he wearing dentures?
June 5th, 2007 at 1:53 pmIf these people dont pay for these things …They and those like them to follow will go even further next time…
June 5th, 2007 at 1:55 pmDrinking game anyone…?
Comment by Zooey — June 5, 2007 @ 1:25 pm
Zooey, it’s only 11 am out here! I can’t drink before I go to work! Darn it.
These kind of repugs do make me want to drink to oblivion, though…
June 5th, 2007 at 2:00 pmZooey, it’s only 11 am out here! I can’t drink before I go to work! Darn it.
These kind of repugs do make me want to drink to oblivion, though…
Comment by SKdeA
Here too. :)
Sometimes we need to drink in order to cope. Oy…
June 5th, 2007 at 2:05 pmMistress Z~
June 5th, 2007 at 2:12 pmI could chug three or four O’Douls, but what’s the point!
The hearing is on!!!
http://www.c-span.org/watch/cs_cspan3_wm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS3
June 5th, 2007 at 2:42 pmLeahy is yelling at this guy!!! It’s awesome!!
June 5th, 2007 at 2:50 pmIs it just me or does Schlozman’s voice sound just like Spongebob Squarepants?
June 5th, 2007 at 3:18 pmHis voice is like spongebobs, and his eyes are like Snidely Whiplash!
June 5th, 2007 at 3:31 pm(Monica Goodling and Schlozman could do a good
Alvin and the Chipmunks duet….)
PS… thanks for the title change, TP!
June 5th, 2007 at 3:32 pmcopy thing: ‘here’s an overview’, not ‘he’s an overview’
June 5th, 2007 at 3:50 pmI agree with heyzeus – between Bradley and Monica Goodling meetings at the Justice Department must have sounded like a rightwing edition of the Mickey Mouse Club or else a girl’s slumber party. Is Bradley such a hardcore partisan because he doubts his masculinity? What is it with these people’s weird voices? It would be funny if they weren’t so destructive to Justice and all the things this nation stands for.
Geekmouth
June 5th, 2007 at 3:56 pmI wonder how many times he will say “I don’t recall.”
June 5th, 2007 at 3:59 pmHe said “I don’t recall” so many times that Leahy made a comment something to the effect of his going after Gonzales’ record!
June 5th, 2007 at 4:03 pmI hate to take pleasure in other people’s pain, but damn it’s fun to watch Tubby McFacialhair get schooled by Leahy and Schumer.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:28 pmWhy do the so many of the republican attorneys from this Justice Department always sound like castrati’s.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:33 pmWhy do the so many of the republican attorneys from this Justice Department always sound like castrati’s.
Comment by Ken — June 5, 2007 @ 4:33 pm
That first semester at Regent University must be a real pain in the nads…
June 5th, 2007 at 4:40 pmI abhor the politicizing of the Federal government, however, it goes both ways. The Republicans do it and hate it as I might, the Dems do it too. What goes around comes around. It is just the Republicans turn to get their hits. Too bad the personalizing of this real situation (calling Schlozman queer, making fun of his voice beard) takes you right out of the argument. Plent of real facts to stick to.
June 5th, 2007 at 11:36 pmI remember reading about Nixon doing something similar. He asked the director of the IRS to audit or investigate Barry Goldwater who was running against him at the time. The IRS, thankfully, refused to do so. Too bad the DOJ has no sense of ethics and is so willing to cooperate with this Orwellian scheme. This blatant use of power to torment and harass the opposition seems a little more egregious on the Republican side than the Democrats.
June 11th, 2007 at 7:36 am