Justice Dept.: Hiring Scandal Violated Law

(CBS/AP)  Top aides to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales broke the law by letting politics influence the hiring of career prosecutors and immigration judges at the Justice Department, says an internal report released Monday.

Gonzales was largely unaware of the hiring decisions by two of his most trusted aides, according to the report by Justice's Office of Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility.

But it singles out his former White House liaison, Monica Goodling, for violating federal law and Justice Department policy by discriminating against job applicants who weren't Republican or conservative loyalists.

"Goodling improperly subjected candidates for certain career positions to the same politically based evaluation she used on candidates for political positions," the report concluded.

In one instance, Justice investigators found, Goodling objected to hiring an assistant prosecutor in Washington because "judging from his resume, he appeared to be a liberal Democrat."

In another, she rejected an experienced terror prosecutor to work on counterterror issues at a Justice Department headquarters office "because of his wife's political affiliations," the report found. It also found she rejected at least one job applicant who was rumored to be a lesbian.

Goodling's attorney, John Dowd, declined comment Monday. Attempts to reach her were not immediately successful.

Additionally, a majority of immigration judge candidates considered by former Gonzales chief of staff Kyle Sampson were recommended by the White House's political affairs office - including one name forwarded by then-top adviser Karl Rove. Sampson told investigators that he did not consider those jobs to be protected from political considerations.

CBS News Justice Department producer Stephanie Lambidakis reports that the new report says the White House "played a central role in selecting candidates for immigration judges," but does not say that Rove engaged in misconduct.

His lawyer, Brad Berenson, described those hiring decisions as an honest mistake and said that Sampson "immediately agreed with the recommendation to put a stop to this process" when he first learned he may have been wrong. White House spokesman Tony Fratto downplayed the report, saying, "There really is not a lot new here."

The federal government makes a distinction between so-called "career" appointees and "political" appointees, and the long-accepted custom has been that career workers are not hired on the basis of political affiliation or allegiance.

The 140-page report does not indicate whether Goodling or Sampson could face any charges. None of those involved in the discriminatory hiring still work at Justice, meaning they will avoid any departmental penalties.

However, Justice investigators said that bar associations that license lawyers have asked about the report's findings on Goodling

indicating she could be sanctioned there, potentially including losing her ability to practice law.

Congressional investigators said they also were considering asking the Justice Department to pursue perjury charges against Goodling, Sampson and possibly Gonzales as a result of their spoken or written congressional testimony during House and Senate investigations last year. Lying to Congress is a crime.

Democrats said the report affirms their charges of White House meddling in the hiring and firing of Justice Department employees.

"The cost to our nation of these apparent crimes was severe, as qualified individuals were rejected for key positions in the fight against terrorism and other critical department jobs for no reason other than political whim," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich.

"The report also indicates that Monica Goodling, Kyle Sampson, and Alberto Gonzales may have lied to the Congress about these matters," Conyers added. "I have directed my staff to closely review this matter and to consider whether a criminal referral for perjury is needed."

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said "it is crystal clear that the law was broken" by the political hiring process.

"But since it is unlikely that Monica Goodling acted on her own," Schumer added, "the question is, how many others were involved."

In their report, Justice investigators sought to find whether Republican politics were driving hiring polices at the nation's premier law enforcement agency whose appointees are expected to be selected on a nonpartisan basis. The investigation is one of several that examine accusations that Bush administration politics drove prosecution, policy and employment decisions within the Justice Department.

Those accusations were initially spurred by the firings of nine U.S. attorneys in late 2006 and culminated with Gonzales' resignation under fire as attorney general last September.

Gonzales, who has kept a low profile since leaving the department said in a statement that "political considerations should play no part in the hiring of career officials at the Department of Justice. ...I agree with the report's recommendations." His attorney, George Terwilliger, defended Gonzales by saying "it's simply not possible for any Cabinet officer to be completely aware of and micromanage the activities of staffers, particularly where they don't inform him of what's going on."

The man who replaced Gonzales, Attorney General Michael Mukasey, said he is "of course disturbed" by the findings.

"I have said many times, both to members of the public and to department employees, it is neither permissible nor acceptable to consider political affiliations in the hiring of career department employees," Mukasey said in a statement shortly after the report was released Monday morning.

Mukasey immediately declared that he is going to "continue to act" to ensure that "the conduct described in the [OIG] report does not occur again at the Department."

"First thing he should do is have his federal lawyers sue Goodling and Sampson in a civil case to try to recoup the taxpayer dollars that were spent unraveling the mess that they intentionally made," said CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said the report indicates that the effort to politicize federal law enforcement was not just the actions of a few "bad apples," but administration policy.

He called it "a clear indication of the untoward political influence of the Bush administration on traditionally nonpolitical appointments."

[impeach__w]

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once wrote: "The government is the potent, omnipresent teacher. For good or ill it teaches the whole people by example. To declare that the end justifies the means - to declare that the government may commit crimes - would bring terrible retribution."

Please exercise you patriotic duty And Go out and buy a gun, learn to use it, store 1000 rounds of ammunition and lots of food and water. Some terrible retribution will happen. Hopefully, to Bush and his cronies but it may come too late for them.

[leftyintexas]

But Obama''''s going to do the same thing. He has never promised he wouldn''''t, while the Democrats have attempted to "legalize" every nefarious act Bush has committed, even going so far as to abolish Habeas Corpus itself for him.

How can you say OBAMA would do the same and while saying he never promised he wouldn''t? What kind of double talk is that?

[mgeg1]

Rove and the Bush White House have demonstrated over and over again that they feel they are not subject to law. Frankly, I think they should all be locked up.

[leftyintexas]

This is SO like the NAZIS in the late 20''s and early 30''s just before Hitler came into power. I often wonder if Karl Rove researched how the Nazis gained power and then used the same tactics to install the puppet we now have leading our country into ruin. It is a real shame what the Republicon party has done to this country. Only 175 days left and Dumbya''s outta here! OBAMA IN 08!

[smirk5]

It''s fair to say that Republicans believe in affirmative action when the rubber meets the road. So many Bushies were hired when more qualified people were available. Affirmative action for Bushies.

[rob416]

Here it is again, another crime committed by now a former member of the Bush cabinet. Former Attorney general Gonzales was and probably still is a friend of the President and put that first over the public interests. He fit right into the Bush Administration! Perhaps instead of Attorney General of the United States he should have been addressed as Attorney General of George W Bush or is that for Bush.

[mcvet-1]

I have a question for all those supporting that tired old retread McSame! Where was he when all this was going on?? Why didn''t HE speak up when it became so obvious that people were being wronged like this? You can''t clean something up IF you were part of the problem to begin with. Sieg Heil Bush

[mick7744]

Now lemme get this straight...these lawyers, these professionals working in the Department of Justice were not aware that what they were doing violated the law?

Do the phrase, ''Ignorance of the law is no excuse,'' strike a familiar note?

The United States desperately needs to revamp the present laws AND the present penal system involving such criminal acts by committed by office holders who must be held to even higher standards of honesty and integrity than the average hard-working criminal.

Alas%u2026I have no confidence in the Democrats to pursue such ends and nothing but loathing and disdain for the Republicans who understand what happens to you when you are caught breaking the law while in office%u2026NOTHING!

To quote Bush the First, %u201CIf the American people knew what we had done, they would chase us down the street and lynch us.%u201D

Now there%u2019s a thought%u2026

[stn_sage]

Wow. Now that''''s one evil b*itch. Forge some manacles for her, toss her in the clink, and forget about her.

Posted by IRLiberal at 05:06 AM : Jul 29, 2008
-------------------
Yeah! I know what you mean! Can we be sure she''s human? Maybe she''s a space alien who absorbed the real Monica, and is working for Bush because of the same objective, the destruction of America!

She''d scare the sh@t out of the neighbor''s attack dog!
Prince would probably lay down, roll around, and bow in humble recognition of the ''Master''!

Recalling her picture makes it hard to fall asleep, the thought that she''s loose in society tonight!Yikes.

[babooph]

"Justice" was at the bottom of the list with anyone associated with the idiot.What a lowgrade bunch-we have hit the bottom of the barrel.