Justice's new U.S. attorneys have partisan records

[Newsjock]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Under President Bush, the Justice Department has backed tougher state voter identification laws and steered U.S. attorneys toward investigating voter fraud -- policies that critics say have been intended to suppress Democratic votes.

Bush, Karl Rove, the president’s deputy chief of staff, and other Republican political advisers have highlighted voting rights issues and what Rove has called the “growing problem” of Democratic election fraud since Bush took power in the tumultuous election of 2000, a race ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Since 2005, McClatchy Newspapers has found, Bush has appointed at least three U.S. attorneys who had worked in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division when it was rolling back long-standing voting rights policies aimed at protecting predominantly poor, minority voters.

Another newly installed U.S. attorney, Tim Griffin in Little Rock, Ark., was accused of participating in efforts to suppress Democratic votes in Florida during the 2004 presidential election while he was research director for the Republican National Committee. He's denied any wrongdoing.

... Taken together, legal experts and other critics say, the replacement of the U.S. attorneys and the changes in Justice Department voting rights policies suggest that the Bush administration may have been using its law enforcement powers for partisan political purposes.


Read more: http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16962753.htm

[Kber]

1. Bush administration may have been using its law enforcement powers for partisan political purposes

And the sun may rise tomorrow.

But who knows for sure.

[merh]

2. Bush administration may have been using its law enforcement powers for partisan political purposes.

Yup, that sums it up

K&R

[xchrom]

3. recommend -- steraling elections remains a republick party corner stone for gaining power.

remember and never forget the goal is -- a permanent republick party majority.

[rodeodance]

4. low lifes. It will takes years to fix this----if fixable.

[cassiepriam]

6. Rove set up an incredible infrastructure, we are seeing just the tip of the iceberg.

We may never dismantle it all.

[ShockediSay]

14. ... in building a "permanent Republican majority" attributed to KKKarl

by none other than Tom DeLay.

Didn't Hitler build a "permanent majority" in the democratic beginnings of the Weimar Republic? A permanent majority for the Nazis -

Of course, Neocons don't study history, or serve in combat. They go to school to learn how to count beans, cook books and spin the truth.

[cassiepriam]

16. It is also the US corporate model. Destroy all opposition, bribe everyone else.

Corner the market, borrow as much money as possible.
Expand, then declare bankruptcy and walk away rich beyond dreams.
Everyone else is left holding the bag and cleaning up the mess.

[cassiepriam]

5. "Democratic election fraud" Is this why we have won all the elections since 2000? :(

[ellenfl]

7. i guess there can be no doubt about which u.s. attorneys

will be gone when a dem gets elected president. and i guess we can never let down our guard again.

the deceit and hubris of these guys just stuns me.

ellen fl

[kath]

11. Actually, there is much confusion on this, even more than a week after all

this started to receive major media attention --It is NORMAL (at least for the last 20 years or so) for an INCOMING President to replace ALL of the US Attorneys at the beginning of his first term. (they are appointed for 4 year terms, but generally stay in place if a President is elected to (or steals) a 2nd term.) What is unusual here is that Chimpy replaced some in the *middle* of his term in office, and for POLITICAL reasons - politicization of the Judicial branch is NOT appropriate in a so-called Democracy. Presumably you know the rest, but, for those just getting up to speed here:

There is an ever-growing pile of evidence that US Attorneys were fired for either not going after Democratic corruption in a vigorous enough manner to keep the WH happy and/or for pursuing investigations of Republican corruption.

*****Methinks that it will be VERY important to investigate what sorts of inappropriate actions were taken by the US Attorneys who KEPT their jobs. There is bound to be MUCH slime unearthed here, deeds that were done to keep BushCo happy.

[ellenfl]

17. yes, i know all that. i'm just saying that chimpy has

apparently surreptitiously stacked the courts, over and above normal procedure, and the dem prez will have to try to undo some of the damage.

ellen fl

[HuffleClaw]

8. MAY have been using its law enforcement powers for partisan political purposes ??

well, that is putting it mildly.

[HuffleClaw]

9. MAY have been using its law enforcement powers for partisan political purposes ??

well, that is putting it mildly.

[Morgana LaFey]

10. This is SO chilling

It's so damn bald, so brazen, so unbelievably wrong -- and yet that doesn't bother them at all (as if I should be surprised at sociopathic behavior by this time).

There is just no end to the outrages from this administrtion. I sure as hell hope all our Dems investigating this see this particular article.

[Doctor_J]

12. What a surprise

Delay's storm troopers in FL 2000 should have been met with baseball bats and small arms fire. This thing should have been brought to a head before it got to this point. What is the sense of having a right to bear arms if we are not going to use it to protect our franchise?

[Jacobin]

13. NOT in the NYT or WaPo I see

gawd our traditional media is so utterly and cravenly bought out

[gratuitous]

15. Gee, I wonder why they didn't want to have to have them confirmed?

Maybe because these partisan hacks -- if they're even licensed to practice law -- wouldn't even get out of committee?