NEW ALLEGATIONS: Anonymous Letter-Reveals-DOJ Hijacked Entry Level Lawyers-Not Just U.S. Attorneys

[kpete]

New Allegations Allege "Hijacking of Hiring" at Justice Department for Entry Level Lawyers, not just U.S. Attorneys
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Wed, 04/18/2007 -
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

An anonymous letter sent to the House and Senate Judiciary Chairmen, signed "A Group of Concerned Department of Justice Employees," thanked Democrats for exposing the "overtly political" firing of United States Attorneys, but warned that the Department was also politicizing the non-political ranks of Justice employees.

The letter claims that the traditional, objective process of hiring top students from law school was being superceded by top officials. After mid-level employees painstakingly pored over applications and resumes to select the best candidates as usual, senior Justice officials dramatically purged the final list in an unprecedented manner.

The letter charges that "Most of those struck from the list had interned for a Hill Democrat, clerked for a Democratic judge, worked for a 'liberal' cause, or otherwise appeared to have 'liberal' leanings. Summa cum laude graduates of both Yale and Harvard were rejected. . ."

Click here to see the (shocking) letter:

page one http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/alerts/227a-
page two http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/alerts/227b

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/alerts/227

[grytpype]

1. Wow. That is incredible.

Keep digging Dems!!!!

[frogcycle]

8. not incredible that they were doing it

it fits teh pattern in all aspects of the government for 6 years

but incredible that (1) the letter was sent and (2) it took so long to send it

[Skittles]

40. not much point in sending it when we had a one party government

only now are we beginning to see even the minimal requests for accountability

[indepat]

33. That the government has been hijacked by people who hate founding principles and politicized

throughout should be no surprise to anyone who has not had their head in the sand for over six years.

[Lord Balto]

52. JEE-ZUU!

[begin squeek] "Senator, I don't recall having my brain
inserted up my rectum." [end squeek]

[aquart]

2. Holy shit.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. bastards!!

:mad:

[HeeBGBz]

15. Rat bastards

They raise a foul stench.

[yourout]

4. The stinking trail of this lead right to Rove.

Man does this make me think of Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

[Hubert Flottz]

26. Me too!

They may not be card carrying Nazis but the operate just like Nazis.

[mod mom]

5. This is how we got such utter incompetence and blind loyalty. They took

the least likely to succeed, least inquisitive and gave them top positions. Michael Brown and Alberto Gonzales are the norms with this crowd. They found the perfect recipe for failure-those unwilling to think for themselves.

[xxqqqzme]

6. unwilling to think and pleased to be given

instructions they can follow to the letter.

[Ilsa]

12. Shit, Brown and Gonzo are the "cream of the crop" compared to

the others they hired. Apparently Gonzo didn't want anyone else from Harvard usurping his authority with real proficiency in something other than Texas real estate law.

[mod mom]

18. "something other than Texas real estate law"-you mean authority on torture?

From advising an idiot governor on execution to being a head honcho overseeing the implementation of torture-wow what accomplishment!

[Ilsa]

37. LOL! Yeah, that's his forte! Harvard Law must be soooo proud! nt

[bobthedrummer]

7. You can be sure that some of them were "turned" and became moles eom

[HCE SuiGeneris]

9. How long until the corrupt media publishes this and America stands up

and says "Enough is bloody-well enough!" Get the crooks out of the White House! :wtf:

[ljm2002]

10. Unbelievable!

Summa cum laude graduates from Yale and Harvard were rejected, and the fool who was behind it had the gall to say that "grades" was a main reason for rejecting applicants.

This is a great development. Thank goodness these folks felt compelled to write that letter. But we have gone beyond the Chines curse of living in "interesting times"; we live in perilous times indeed.

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. Sometimes you wonder if this kind of elimination process also occurs

at the state level, with lawyers who challenge businesses or government, in favor of the public good?

[Quakerfriend]

49. 'Backlash' you have a great mind! I bet this has been

happening, as well.

We need to see a lot more people coming forward with what they know.

[The Backlash Cometh]

53. I know at least one group of brothers who have a story to tell, but

they were gagged. That's the whispers, anyways.

How do people who have fought the system, and lost, get a megaphone? In the Florida Constitution it states, or stated, that no government agency could enter into a gag agreement because it was not in the best interest of the public interest.

Of course, the Republicans have been in office for so long, they probably eliminated that clause.

[salin]

13. huge deal, and I hope it doesnt get skipped over due to other de jour events.

K & R

and I hope others continue to rec til it gets 20 and gets read by many. This is a big story - www.TalkingPointsMemo.oom has some great info on the story.

[aquart]

19. Typo in your link.

[Raksha]

14. That's OUTRAGEOUS!!! n't

[Raksha]

16. Something else just struck me: Is this Republican-style

"affirmative action"? I mean, passing over the best and brightest in favor of ideologically correct losers. They always rail against it when the left allows a few points to make up for past injustices to a particular ethnic group, but (as usual) they are fine with it when THEY do it!

[HuffleClaw]

17. well, of COURSE they were doing this.

and elsewhere too i expect. they just never thought they'd ever have to answer for their criminal actions.

[pacalo]

21. Loyalty above expertise was expected in every appointment working for this administration.

Their corrupt agenda required that loyalty be tops on their list of expectations.

[aquart]

20. Is this a crime? Are there penalties?

WILL THESE BASTARDS FINALLY GO TO JAIL????

[aquart]

22. Seems it is a crime.

From Comments at TPM Muckraker <http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003039.php>


This is illegal under Section 2302 of Title 5 of the US Code.

Per the EEOC web site:

"Generally stated, § 2302(b) provides that a federal employee authorized to take, direct others to take, recommend or approve any personnel action may not:

(1) discriminate against an employee or applicant based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicapping condition, marital status, or political affiliation..."
Posted by: Just Joe
Date: April 18, 2007 07:53 PM

[femmedem]

43. The whole thread's worth recommending.

But I wish I could also recommend your post in particular.

[demobabe]

23. kick

:kick:

[Disturbed]

24. More criminal actions by this Govt.

This was discrimination based upon political affiliation. Will any charges be filed?

[Irreverend IX]

25. Don't get so worked up...

I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg. The real excitement (and horror) will come when they start digging beneath the surface of this stuff.

[BR_Parkway]

27. And the honest, hardworking people passed over in favor of the

incompetents in the "loyalty based promotion" process are pissed...

They've been waiting for years to tell someone who could do something about it. And they're lawyers - I have no doubt that they've kept copies of memos, emails,etc... along with providing the legal citations to make it easy for someone to go after these crooks

[Robbien]

28. This is not really new. Other federal departments have already said this is what

they do now. Only GOPers need apply is the Golden Rule they go by.

This is a government of, by and for GOPers only. Everyone else doesn't count.

[Solly Mack]

29. The next President will have to fire every single solitary person

within the Department of Justice and all its state offices...a total house cleaning.(receptionists, secretaries, para-legals, lawyers...even the janitor and vending services)

No one can be spared. No one can be granted the benefit of the doubt.

Not even the people who sent that letter.

It's the only way to be sure the cancer is gone.

[BeliQueen]

42. Much too extreme of a response to this

It would create a crisis of incompetence since no one would have the experience to pass on to new hires.

And yes this is exactly what they've done before. This is the reason why they allowed fresh-out-of-college frat boys in charge of rebuilding Iraq, and why we're in such a mess right now.

It is truly outrageous.

[Solly Mack]

54. There already is a crisis of incompetence - right this minute

and it has infected the entire DOJ (and not just the DOJ)

Staggering resignations to allow for a clean exchange won't cause the DOJ to implode and it won't result in frat boys running the show...that only happens when you owe someone a favor or hope to place your like-minded, butt-kissing cronies to further an agenda.


It is, however, an extreme measure - I agree..it is extreme

But then we aren't exactly dealing with a simple problem.

[bobthedrummer]

30. now mentioned as part of the Committee hearing kick

[Uncle Joe]

31. Kicked and recommended

Thanks for the thread kpete

[trof]

32. Main qual: Regent University Law School grad.

Pat Roberts U.

[AuntPatsy]

34. So much criminal activity, so little convictions, unbelievable.

[tmlanders]

35. This really is the tip of the iceberg...

This crap is happening in EVERY department of our government -- Commerce, Education, HHS, etc. Career bureaucrats (who know how their departments really work)are being driven out by the idiots and imbeciles appointed by the idiot in chief. This is going to be a problem for a very long time. I hope that our 2008 Democratic President will be able to lure these folks back so that we can start making government work again.

[Eurobabe]

36. How can we ever trust the DOJ again?

Our Justice Department is permanently fucked.

[WiseButAngrySara]

38. This is repulsive! Please Congress do something

to remove this scum. We are not going to be able to trust anyone in government, assuming we even have one after these thugs have systematically attempted to destroy it and the Constitution which should protect our Government.

[BREMPRO]

39. these guys don't care about justice, only power.

this is despicable politicizing- following a destructive pattern this administration follows that has eroded our democracy... here it is in one phrase:

Party and Bush loyalty over competency

Result- we get incompetent government officials that only serves to control power for the party, not serve the American people and justice.

evidence: Alberto Gonzalez, Harriet Myers, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Bremmer etc..etc...etc...

[MountainLaurel]

41. They've been doing this since the beginning

One of Bush's first acts was to fire all of the Justice attorneys in charge of prosecuting environmental crimes. He replaced them with attorneys who had been working for the corporate fuckers being prosecuted in these cases, which were almost immediately all dismissed for lack of evidence.

[MissMarple]

44. You've got that right. The practice of placing partisans into all levels of government began with

George, and it continues to this day. Besides gaining partisan advantage over policy, they have severely downgraded the overall quality of people coming into government service. Only the stupid, the selfish, and the ideologically insane hang out with this crowd.

[Greyskye]

45. disgusting. Here is a direct working link to the letter

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/docs/doj_employees_letter.pdf

[Laurab]

46. KnR n/t

[rzemanfl]

47. The upside, if there is one, is that there are a lot of summa cum

laude grads of first tier law schools who have a chip on their shoulder regarding Repukes. They will get their revenge.

[Roy]

48. Are you talking 1,000's of Manchurian Candidates? WHOAAA!!!

[PreacherCasey]

50. I wonder how many were hired from Regent? n/t

[Hamlette]

51. Isn't it against the law to discriminate based on politics in government?

It is in my state and we're not exactly progressive here.

[Roland99]

55. New GOP catch phrase: "Smile if you're brainwashed."

[Roland99]

56. Oh, and I wonder how many of these lawyers are graduates of Regent???

The Dominionists are truly trying to take over.