Allegations of voter fraud have been a central component of the U.S. attorneys scandal, as the Bush administration has consistently “pursued an aggressive legal effort to restrict voter turnout in key battleground states in ways that favor Republican political candidates.”

In 2005, Bradley Schlozman, then U.S. attorney in Missouri, brought a suit against Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan (D) “charging that her state had failed to eliminate ineligible voters from registration rolls,” an alleged violation of the National Voter Registration Act.

In April, after an 18-month lawsuit, Judge Nanette Laughrey of U.S. District Court in Missouri ruled in favor of Carnahan and sharply criticized the Justice Department’s weak case:

Laughrey said it was difficult to gauge the scope of the problem “because the United States has not presented the actual voter registration lists and shown who should have been included or excluded and why.”

“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,” Laughrey wrote. “Nor has the United States shown that any voter fraud has occurred.”

But the DOJ refuses to relent, quietly continuing to push the debunked voter fraud allegations through the federal courts. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports today that the Department has announced that it will file for an appeal of Laughrey’s decision. In response, the exonerated Carnahan slammed the DOJ’s stubborness in repeatedly chasing after her:

“I’m very disappointed that the U.S. Department of Justice seems determined to continue this unnecessary and costly lawsuit by appealing the recent federal ruling,” Carnahan said. “The judge who heard this case was clear and unequivocal that the Office of Secretary of State had done its job with regard to voter list maintenance, and even went beyond federal requirements to assist the county clerks and election boards with their responsibilities, and that there was no evidence of voter fraud in Missouri.“

The Missouri District court is not the only court that sees through the DOJ’s and Bush administration’s attempts to allege voter fraud on scant evidence. Recently, a federal court ruled that an aide to Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) was wrongly convicted of public corruption. The federal court assailed the government’s case and said that U.S. attorney Steven Biskupic’s evidence was “beyond thin.”

Italia Federici, who served as a “go-between” for Jack Abramoff and J. Steven Griles, was charged Wednesday with “tax evasion and obstructing a Senate inquiry” as part of the Abramoff corruption probe. Federici was formerly the head of a Republican environmental advocacy group and is “accused of lying to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which in 2005 was investigating Abramoff’s dealings with officials in the Interior Department.” The Justice Department has set a hearing for the case on Friday.

MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson, whose father, Richard Carlson, is on the advisory committee of Scooter Libby’s legal defense fund, spoke to Salon today about Valerie Plame’s covert status: “CIA clearly didn’t really give a sh*t about keeping her identity secret if she’s going to work at f*cking Langley.” Carlson then added “I call bullsh*t on that, I don’t care what they say,” regarding prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s assertion that Plame continued to travel under non-official cover while working at Langley. Plame herself has confirmed her covert status under oath.

Fred Thompson’s un-campaign has signed up Tim Griffin as a consultant of some sort. Griffin, you may recall, did a brief stint as US Attorney for Arkansas as part of a secondary plotline in the purge affair.

A military panel recommended this week that Iraq war veteran Marine Cpl. Adam Kokesh, “who wore his uniform during an anti-war protest, should lose his honorable discharge status, brushing away his claims that he was exercising his right to free speech.”

While the Marine Corps was actively working to repudiate “opposition groups and individuals” like Kokesh, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was advocating — in his official capacity — on behalf of “Scooter” Libby.

After Libby was convicted of “lying to investigators and a federal grand jury examining the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity,” Pace wrote a letter endorsing Libby’s character, specifically noting his “selfless” nature and his penchant for examining decisions “legally and morally.”

I was always very impressed with Mr. Libby’s professionalism and his focus and attention to the matters at hand. He impressed me as a team player when addressing issues and with his selfless approach to his wide-ranging responsibilities. … From my perspective dealing with Mr. Libby on national security issues, he served the United States Government extremely well.

The administration appears to oppose the political advocacy of uniformed officers, except when they’re advocating on behalf of administration policy.

– Ryan Powers

Fox News “apologized” yesterday after airing images of Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) during a discussion of indicted Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) (both happen to be African-American). But the apology “made no reference to Mr. Conyers and did not explain why or how the erroneous video made it to air.” After Conyers called the apology “lackluster,” Fox News tried again today:

We in no way meant to suggest there was any connection between the Jefferson indictment and Congressman Conyers. We have extended our apology privately to the congressman, and we do so here as well.

Watch it:

UPDATE: Black web activists at ColorOfChange.org praise Conyers for fighting back.

UPDATE II: “Fox News’ African-American elected official mix-up not its first.”

UPDATE III: Jack and Jill Politics has more.

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