Justice -- Screening For 'Loyal Bushies'

July 29, 2008

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Ali Frick, and Ryan Powers

JUSTICE

Screening For 'Loyal Bushies'

Yesterday, the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) and Inspector General (IG) released the findings of their joint investigation into "allegations of politicized hiring by Monica Goodling and other staff in the Office of the Attorney General." The report found that Goodling and other senior Justice Department officials violated federal law when they "employed a political and ideological litmus test to weed out candidates for career and other positions at the Justice Department." Goodling, a graduate of Pat Robertson's Regent University Law School, testified before Congress last year about her role in the U.S. Attorney purge, admitting that she "crossed the line" by taking "inappropriate political considerations into account" on "some occasions" in hiring and promoting career Department of Justice employees. According to the new report, however, Goodling and her colleagues "crossed the line" regularly and dramatically to uncover the "political and ideological affiliations" of candidates for career positions in the Department. Eighteen months into his tenure, Attorney General Michael Mukasey has failed to fully acknowledge the severity of the problem and act to reverse the full extent to which the Justice Department was politicized under his predecessor, Alberto Gonzales.

OPPOSITION RESEARCH: During Goodling's tenure at the DOJ, the hiring process for career positions, temporary assignments, and even judgeships was transformed into a highly political selection process in which candidates were hired based on their "conservative values" rather than their professional qualifications. Apparently drawing on her experience conducting opposition research for the Republican National Committee, Goodling and her colleagues carried out detailed "Internet research on candidates for Department positions...designed to obtain their political and ideological affiliations." Her research included use of "www.tray.com and other web sites to get information about political contributions made by candidates" and a detailed query of LexisNexis looking for a candidate's affiliations with or statements regarding numerous conservative flash points such as, "abortion," "homosexuality," "2000 Florida recount," "Iraq," and "WMD." Goodling "regularly gave candidates for career civil service jobs a form designed for political appointees," seeking information regarding party identification. During interviews, she would ask candidates, "Tell us about your political philosophy," "What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?" and "Aside from the President, give us an example of someone currently or recently in public service who you admire." According to the OPR/IG report, one candidate reported that after he stated he admired Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Goodling "frowned" and commented, "but she's pro-choice."s

'IF I FOUND SOMETHING NEGATIVE': In her testimony to Congress last year, Goodling explained how she used the results of her political research on job candidates. "Normally, if I found something that was negative about someone, we didn't hire them," she said. As the report notes, Goodling's definition of finding "something negative" extended past candidates not sharing her "conservative priorities" and into the personal lives of the individuals she interviewed. In one instance, Goodling refused to hire "one of the leading terrorism prosecutors in the country" for a counterterrorism position in the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) because his wife was a Democrat. Goodling's objections forced the EOUSA to "select a much more junior attorney who lacked any experience in counterterrorism issues." Similarly, the OPR/IG investigation confirmed a recent NPR report that Goodling stalled Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Hagen's career because of rumors -- which turned out to be false -- that Hagen was in a gay relationship former U.S. Attorney Margaret M. Chiara. Despite the fact that Hagen had received "outstanding" ratings in her performance reviews, Goodling denied Hagen's advancement saying she was afraid "it would look like the Department was sanctioning the homosexual relationship." Chiara, a victim of the U.S. Attorney purge, now believes she was fired for the same reason. As the OPR/IG report explained, Goodling's political and discriminatory considerations were "particularly damaging to the Department because it resulted in high-quality candidates for important details being rejected in favor of less-qualified candidates."

MUKASEY IN DENIAL: In response to the report, Mukasey issued a statement saying, "I am of course disturbed by the findings that improper political considerations were used in hiring decisions relating to some career employees." Just last week, however, Mukasey denied that the Justice department had been politicized. When Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) asked him during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing whether he believed that individuals at the Justice Department had "engaged in politicizing the administration of Justice," Mukasey responded, "No. No." Members of both parities in Congress have expressed disappointment in Mukasey's tenure at the Department. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) said that Mukasey "hasn't provided the balance that I had hoped for," while Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) -- a key supporter of Mukasey's nomination -- called Mukasey's performance before the Judiciary Committee last week "terrible." Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) "faulted Mukasey for past efforts to dismiss the issue as the work 'of a few bad apples,'" saying that the report's findings "show the practices had 'at least tacit approval of senior department officials'" Fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias explained, "Monica Goodling was more than just foolish; she broke the law...And there needs to be some consequence to that."

IRAN -- GATES SAYS WAR WITH IRAN 'WOULD BE DISASTROUS,' IT'S 'THE LAST THING WE NEED': In the summer issue of the U.S. Army War College's quarterly journal "Parameters," Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote an article titled "Reflections on Leadership." The article examined the "three principles of war for a democracy" espoused by General Fox Conner — whom Gates wrote was "a tutor and mentor to both" General Dwight D. Eisenhower and General George Marshall. Gates claimed that Conner's "never fight unless you have to" principle "looms over policy discussions today regarding rogue nations like Iran that support terrorism." But while Gates believes Iran is "hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons," he added that "[a]nother war in the Middle East is the last thing we need." "In fact, I believe it would be disastrous on a number of levels," he wrote. Gates said that "the military option must be kept on the table," but his overall assessment echoed a recent statement by Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Michael Mullen. Last week on Fox News Sunday, Mullen said, "I'm fighting two wars, and I don't need a third one" in Iran.

IRAQ -- WAR ARCHITECT RICHARD PERLE SEEKING ENTRY INTO IRAQ OIL BUSINESS: The Wall Street Journal reports that Richard Perle, a key architects of the Iraq war, "has been exploring going into the oil business in Iraq and Kazakhstan." Perle "has been discussing a possible deal with officials of northern Iraq's Kurdistan regional government, including its Washington envoy." Perle was the chairman of the Defense Policy Board during the run-up to the Iraq war, and repeatedly suggested that Iraq and Saddam Hussein played a role in 9/11. At the start of the war, Perle was forced to resign his position on the Defense Policy Board after the reports disclosed his "links to an intelligence-related computer firm that stands to profit from war with Iraq." Last month, the New York Times disclosed that four Western oil companies were close to obtaining no-bid contracts to service Iraq's largest oil fields. The Times also revealed that the State Department "played an integral part" in negotiating these deals.

ETHICS -- AUDIT FINDS BLACKWATER IMPROPERLY AWARDED SMALL BUSINESS CONTRACTS: According to a federal audit released yesterday, "Blackwater obtained dozens of small business contracts worth more than $110 million even though the private security company may have exceeded size limits for a small business." The Inspector General of the Small Business Administration (SBA) reported that from 2005 to 2007, Blackwater "won 32 small-business contracts worth more than $2.1 million even though the work was restricted to companies with revenue of $6.5 million or less." Blackwater's revenue exceeded $200 million each of those years, more than 30 times the small business revenue ceiling. Blackwater's airline affiliate, Presidential Airways, also "won more than $107 million in contracts set aside for companies with revenue of less than $25.5 million or fewer than 1,500 employees." The audit noted that Blackwater may have "misrepresented its revenue for those contracts" and "questioned the math behind the claim that it had fewer than 1,500 employees." Blackwater was initially awarded the contracts because the SBA "decided that for Afghanistan and Iraq security contracts, workers trained by Presidential would be considered independent contractors, not company employees." Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell claimed in a statement that "expert accounting and outside legal counsel have determined that the firm's classification of security personnel as independent contractors is reasonable, correct and legally protected."

Jim Adkisson, the man who shot two people to death in a Tennessee Unitarian church this week because he was angry at "liberals and gays," had an array of right-wing books at his home. Inside his house, "officers found 'Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder' by radio talk show host Michael Savage, 'Let Freedom Ring' by talk show host Sean Hannity, and 'The O'Reilly Factor,' by television talk show host Bill O'Reilly."

The EPA has issued a gag order to its employees, according to an internal e-mail released by the Union of Concerned Scientists [UCS]. The e-mail instructs staffers to refuse to speak with reporters, investigators, and the agency's inspector general, and to refer questions to designated officials. A UCS spokesman said that, with evidence that "retaliation is widespread" at the EPA, "it's critical that...employees are able to speak confidentially."

An internal Department of Homeland Security memo "is advising employees to be on increased alert beginning next month through next summer because of a series of upcoming high-profile events including the Olympics, both major parties' nominating conventions, Election Day and the presidential transition."

Only 37 percent of America's unemployed received jobless benefits in 2007, "down from 55% in 1958 and 44% in 2001, according to the Labor Department. The others have exhausted their benefits, haven't applied or don't qualify."

Senate conservatives who have been clamoring for weeks to get a new round of votes on legislation that would expand offshore drilling appear close to getting their wish. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said yesterday it looks "like we're very close to having a consent agreement."

Employing his powers as commander in chief, President Bush "on Monday approved the first execution by the military since 1961, upholding the death penalty of an Army private convicted of a series of rapes and murders more than two decades ago."

After the Senate Ethics panel put renewed pressure on Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to stop delivering babies for free at a Maryland private hospital, Coburn insisted the panel "might as well investigate Sen. Patrick Leahy's cameo in 'The Dark Knight.'" "If Sen. Coburn can only deliver babies for free at a public hospital, shouldn't Sen. Leahy only be allowed to donate his notable thespian skills to a public entity like PBS?" his office asked.

And finally: John McCain, who has admitted his computer illiteracy on many occasions, tried to address the issue while speaking in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the nation's technology capitals. "Am I a tech freak? No," he said. "And I don’t like to text message because I'd rather call somebody on the telephone." He added, "But I am forcing myself...let me put it this way, I am using the computer more and more every day."

"The U.S. had 12% fewer homeless people last year than in 2005, and the greatest decline occurred among those who chronically live on the streets or in emergency shelters, according to a federal report to be released today."

THINK PROGRESS: Senate conservatives vote against cloture on "Tomnibus."

WONK ROOM: Environmental Protection Agency gags staff: "Do not respond to questions."

EMPTY WHEEL: Monica Goodling's job history set her up perfectly to politicize the Justice Department.

RACIALICIOUS: A five-year old is denied entry into kindergarten in Texas because he is Native American.

WASHINGTON: "Seattle became one of the first major American cities to discourage the use of paper and plastic shopping bags by requiring grocery, drug and convenience stores to charge 20 cents per bag."

MASSACHUSETTS: "Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority, which secured more than $500 million in educational loans last year, announced Monday that it would not offer loans for the coming academic year."

LOUISIANA: "Louisiana officials touted to visiting state lawmakers the benefits of offshore drilling for oil."

"[T]he use of military force against a training camp [in Iran] is really the most prudent thing to do."
-- Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, 5/5/08

VERSUS

"Another war in the Middle East is the last thing we need. In fact, I believe it would be disastrous on a number of levels."
-- Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, 7/08

Think Progress

Screening For 'Loyal Bushies'

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