by digby
...a contradiction in terms.
With the news from Steve Benen coming out of
Wisconsin and from Christy about
Minnesota, regarding a couple more of those "Good Bushies" in the Justice Department, I thought it might be a good time to bring up a little something I found the other day on the blog
Wot Is It Good 4. A commenter there pointed to
this very interesting paper (pdf) presented to the Center For Voting Rights just before the 2004 election on the issue of voter suppression.
I was surprised to see that the Republican National Lawyers Association (where Rove
delivered his speech last spring in which, among other things, he mentioned as "problems" those states from which the targeted US Attorneys hail) was pretty much formed for the express and exclusive purpose of training and deploying lawyers on matters of purported voter fraud (aka minority vote suppression.) Neither did I know before that they played a pivotal role in the Florida Recount.
The report gives the history of minority voter suppression in America (a very ugly story) and brings it right up to the 1980's, particularly the huge voter registration effort in the black community by the Jesse Jackson campaign which apparently scared the bejeezuz out of the Republicans:
<...>
What an odd thing to say. The "nation's" voters clearly preferred Al Gore. It was only through that regrettable anachronism of the electoral college (and cheating in Florida) that had Bush within stealing distance.
moreLast year, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D), seeking a second term, was considered relatively vulnerable by the Republican establishment. The GOP had successfully recruited then-Rep. Mark Green (R-Wis.) to be their gubernatorial candidate, they cleared the field so he could get the nomination, fundraising was brisk, and some early polling showed Green within striking distance.
Right around the time that Green officially became the GOP nominee in Wisconsin, U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic brought charges against a top official in Doyle’s administration, accusing the state purchasing supervisor of corruption. Were the charges politically motivated? It’s hard to say for sure, but consider how quickly a federal appeals court
dismissed the charges yesterday. (thanks to reader D.D. for the heads-up)
<...>
Given the recent evidence involving the politicization of U.S. Attorneys’ offices, the questions are unavoidable.
Indeed, it’s worth remembering that Wisconsin Republicans used the bogus scandal during the gubernatorial campaign as a political defense when Green stood accused of accepting dubious contributions.
Just to be clear, I know of no evidence to suggest that the U.S. Attorney in this district was trying to influence the election. I have no idea if Karl Rove gave Biskupic a call and said, “You know, it’s a close race. Anything you can do would be helpful.”
We do know, however, that shortly before a close election, Biskupic brought extremely thin criminal charges against a top Doyle administration official who apparently did nothing wrong.
***UPDATE: This just in: the April 12th Gonzales appearance before the Senate Budget Committee has, indeed, been postponed because the DoJ is now refusing to turn over thousands of documents that needed to be reviewed prior to the hearing, setting things up for a subpoena showdown. Hold onto your hats, kids — it's going to get bumpy and that makes the April 17th hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee all the more intriguing. More from
the WaPo.***
The upcoming hearings with Alberto Gonzales are going to be quite interesting, indeed. More information popping up about dissatisfaction in the ranks at USAtty offices across the country. This from
Minneapolis, from reader "LD":
Sources told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that four top assistants to U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose have stepped down from their positions.
According to our sources, First Assistant Attorney John Marti, Criminal Division Chief Jim Lakner, Civil Division Chief Erika Monzangue, and Administrative Officer Tim Anderson all left their posts Thursday.
Political insiders have criticized Paulose's rise to the U.S. Attorney's position as a political favor to the Bush Administration. She is just 34-years old and has worked directly for the same justice department officials who are currently under fire as part of the national U.S. Attorney's office scandal.
Sources said Paulose's style of management has already sent several other attorney's out the door from an office historically viewed as one of the more stable in the country.
Fired prosecutors scandal shines suspicion on 2004 election, and it's not voter fraud
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