Gov't report: Bush administration broke federal law - politicized DoJ hiring

The findings are in, the report is finished. The Department of Justice Inspector General has found definitively that the Bush administration broke federal law in politicizing hiring practices in the Dept. of Justice.

From the report (p.99):

The documentary evidence and witness interviews also support the conclusion that two members of the 2006 Screening Committee, [Bush appointees] Esther Slater McDonald and Michael Elston, took political or ideological affiliations into account in deselecting candidates in violation of Department policy and federal law. For example, the evidence showed that McDonald wrote disparaging statements about candidates’ liberal and Democratic Party affiliations on the applications she reviewed and that she voted to deselect candidates on that basis.

Interesting that before Elston resigned, he helped carry out the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, and "was accused of threatening at least four of the eight fired U.S. attorneys to keep quiet about their ousters." He was also accused of rejecting a large number of applicants to Justice Department positions because they were Democrats.

Will we see justice in our Dept. of Justice for these power hungry thugs - violators of Federal law? This is consistent with what was suspected in the political US attorney firings.

"This is the first smoking gun. We believe there will be more to come. This report shows clearly that politics and ideology replaced merit as the hiring criteria at one of our most prized civil service departments."

--Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee