Minnesota case fits pattern in attorneys flap

[RamboLiberal]

Source: LA Times

For more than 15 years, clean-cut, square-jawed Tom Heffelfinger was the embodiment of a tough Republican prosecutor. Named U.S. attorney for Minnesota in 1991, he won a series of high-profile white-collar crime and gun and explosives cases. By the time Heffelfinger resigned last year, his office had collected a string of awards and commendations from the Justice Department.

So it came as a surprise — and something of a mystery — when he turned up on a list of U.S. attorneys who had been targeted for firing.

Part of the reason, government documents and other evidence suggest, is that he tried to protect voting rights for Native Americans.

At a time when GOP activists wanted U.S. attorneys to concentrate on pursuing voter fraud cases, Heffelfinger's office was expressing deep concern about the effect of a state directive that could have the effect of discouraging Indians in Minnesota from casting ballots.

Citing requirements in a new state election law, Republican Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer directed that tribal ID cards could not be used for voter identification by Native Americans living off reservations. Heffelfinger and his staff feared that the ruling could result in discrimination against Indian voters. Many do not have driver's licenses or forms of identification other than the tribes' photo IDs.



Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-usatty31may31,0,321185.story?coll=la-home-center

---

Good. Hope the story of how Bush, Rove, Gonzo, Goodling and the other scumbags tried to suppress Democratic and minority voting is coming out.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Fascinating...

Just before the 2004 election I was working as a volunteer answering phones about voter registration for Election Protection in Minneapolis. I was closely watching the litigation about the Native Americans' IDs, just appalled at what the egregious Mary Kiffmeyer was up to and knowing damn well why she was doing it. When the federal court ordered the IDs to be accepted as valid for voter registration (I think it was on the Friday before the election) I was very pleased because Kiffmeyer had pretty much been handed her ass.

And now it turns out that there was WAAAAY more to the story...

[LuckyLib]

2. and Heffelfinger supposedly spent "too much time" on Indian issues,

even though he headed up an important committee specifically to do so. Those Republicans in Justice with their Regent University minions have really been working it, haven't they?