Senatorial Frustration Over Lack of Responsibility for Politicization at DOJ

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by Meg White

The politicization of the Justice Department is back in the news, thanks to a new report from the department's inspector general.

Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine testified Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee in connection with the report on the politicization of hiring and firing at the Department of Justice under the purview of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Though former White House liaison to the Justice Department Monica Goodling testified last year before the House Judiciary Committee on the subject, the report outlined the violations in greater detail. The report implicated other department staff members such as Kyle Sampson, Gonzales' former chief of staff, and Goodling's predecessor as liaison, Jan Williams.

Though the report did not address the possibility of prosecution, Fine told committee members he did not believe Goodling and others could be charged with any criminal act:

"We do not believe the conduct we found in our report constitutes a criminal violation."

A number of factors play into this determination. The Justice Department officials implicated in the report violated several civil service laws as well as the policies of the department, neither of which are criminal violations. Fine noted that Goodling had immunity when she testified before Congress. He added that none of her statements at that Congressional hearing were determined to be false.

Also, since Goodling and others have since resigned from their positions, the department is unable to punish them.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) expressed dismay over the ease with which disgraced Justice Department officials were able to avoid punishment:

"They need only change jobs to avoid responsibility."

Fine disputed the idea that no punishment was meted out, noting that some lawyers may have their licenses revoked by the American Bar Association and that some immigration judges installed in the politicized environment were found so incompetent that they "didn't survive the probationary period," and are no longer serving.

He also recommends that the former department employees never be considered for government jobs again.

The idea of making civil service laws such as the ones broken by Goodling and others criminally prosecutable was mentioned in the hearing. Fine replied to the suggestion, saying he felt the separation between civil service law and criminal law was an important one, and that such a change may have unintended consequences:

"You can sweep in conduct that you might not want to have included in criminal law."

Though the department has changed some human resources rules and training to avoid this in the future, some lawmakers expressed concern over the qualifications of those who were hired under the politicized process. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) was frustrated with the fact that some of "the so-called Bushies" are still holding high-level positions with the department:

"It looks like they got away with it scot-free."

Counterterrorism positions were also filled with significantly less-qualified candidates because candidates passed the partisan litmus test administered by Goodling. Schumer noted that the hiring of unqualified department officials is not only "a new low," but a serious security threat.

"This is not just politics. This is our own safety," he said. "That hurts every one of us."

Fine noted several times that the report indicated that, though he was the head of the department at the time, Gonzales said he was unaware of the politicization of the department. However, Fine did not let the former attorney general off the hook. He said that such "inadequate supervision" by Gonzales was "part of the problem."

Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) was somewhat incredulous about the supposed lack of involvement of high-level officials.

"How was this allowed to continue in an agency that has such a long history of excellence and non-partisanship?"

Fine blamed it on young, inexperienced employees who "were allowed to run uncontrolled," saying they lacked respect for the department's past:

"They did not understand the traditions of the Department of Justice."

Whitehouse noted that the Justice Department has traditionally been fiercely independent of partisan politics.

"It is creepy to read your report and see what was done," he said. "When it comes to politics, this is an administration that has no gag reflex."

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