Schlozman’s Not Done

/in /by

In my rush to leave town on Thursday, I missed this letter Pat Leahy sent to Brad Schlozman about his missing homework:

Dear Mr. Schlozman:

According to news reports, you have confirmed that you resigned last week from the Department of Justice. Yet, the Judiciary Committee is still waiting for your responses to written questions from Committee Members following your June 5 testimony at the Committee’s hearing on "Preserving Prosecutorial Independence: Is the Department of Justice Politicizing the Hiring and Firing of U.S. Attorneys?-Part V." These responses were due June 28, nearly two months ago.

In addition, during your appearance before the Committee, you testified about your preparation for the hearing, the unprecedented U.S. attorney replacements, the use of partisan considerations in career hiring, and your role as the interim U.S, Attorney and while at the Civil Rights Division in pressing certain cases in connection with recent elections. Your answers to questions made clear the importance of certain emails and other documents the Committee has still not received from the Department of Justice.

Your answers and these documents are especially important after you appeared to mislead the Committee and the public about your decision to file an election eve lawsuit in direct conflict with longstanding Justice Department policy. Despite testifying at least nine times at the hearing that you were directed to file this suit by the Public Integrity section, you sent a letter a week after the hearing that you were not, in fact, directed to do so, I asked you repeatedly about this case at the hearing because of concerns that it was done to use law enforcement power improperly to affect the outcome of the election, which is the reason the Department instituted the policy as a safeguard against such manipulation.

The Committee has authorized subpoenas, which I have not issued, for the information you have failed to provide. Please send your written responses to the Committee, including any and all requested documents, no later than August 28, to avoid any further action to compel them. [my emphasis]

That new due date would be (checks calendar) today. Otherwise we get new subpoenas for emails and questions from DOJ–and it’ll be hard for Schlozman to invoke privilege when he has already answered many of these questions.

And given the language Leahy is using, referring to using prosecutions to affect elections, it’s clear he’s thinking of criminal Hatch Act violations.

  1. Anonymous says:

    Oh, please let that be the smell of a bonfire for roasting fat chipmunks. I think this one would be a lot of fun to use as an example — and I sure hope Leahy is up to the task, ready to pull out all the stops to make a point about contempt and obstruction.

  2. P J Evans says:

    Dear Senator:
    Please don’t extend any more due dates. If they can’t get their homework answers done when due, they deserve the grade sentence they get.

  3. Anonymous says:

    If Jeff Taylor won’t play ball, how will Leahy get criminal Hatch Act violations prosecuted?

  5. Katie Jensen says:

    The dems really need a lesson in behavioral therapy or behavioral change.They don’t seem to have a clue about how to get what they want, how to meet an objective.

    Calling Skinner to the white house.

  6. phred says:

    EW, Thursday Aug. 23rd seems to be a magical day. Do you happen to know if Kim resigned before or after Leahy sent his homework due reminder to Schlozman? Might there be a connection between Kim and Schlozman that might reveal criminal conduct once Leahy gets the docs he wants? Might that be why Kim had to scamper out of dodge? Or do you envision another scenario altogether?

  7. Anonymous says:

    And if I recall correctly, they’ve since changed the DoJ manual to say that it’s okay to file election lawsuits right before an election. You can just hear the wheels turning, â€Geez, who knew there were rules about this stuff? Okay, all fixed now!â€

  9. Anonymous says:

    bmaz

    Dunno. One of the things the Dems ought to have on the table for an AG appoint is a real DC USA as part of the bargain. Note, though, that Leahy CC’ed this to the DOJ IG. I actually think the Civil Rights investigation may be coming to a head, if not the other ones. While that still requires a criminal referral, I think a criminal referral from the IG will come off a little differently than a criminal referral from the Democratic Senate.

    As for the Kim/Schlozman timing, I think the timing is that in their announcement of Kim’s resignation, they admitted that Schlozman had also snuck away in the dark of the night, which is what prompted Leahy to write this letter.

  11. clbrune says:

    So, does this mean that by the time Congress is back in session a whole pile of subpoena deadlines (for the USA firings and the illegal NSA wiretapping program, as well as the previously defied subpoenas for testimony–Rove and Harriet, for example) will have come and gone? Are we finally looking at the last option, contempt charges?

    Are there just a bunch of empty offices at DoJ and the WH? And a big pile of shredded documents?

  12. Katie Jensen says:

    Please god, let congress be ready to deal the consequences and please let gonzo’s step down be in part because the consequences are coming and he can’t stop them.

    Is anybody listening? Besides all the brilliant good, powerless folks here in bloggerworld.

  13. JohnLopresti says:

    GHebert wrote a footnoted article at CampaignLegalCenter concerning the relationship between some of Schlozman’s tactics and the now purged sections of the voting rights section at DOJ guidelines manual, the worst effect being, as a contributor, above, has highlighted, that the unit is primed now to exercise political bias in the coming presidential election cycles in 2008.

  14. BlueStateRedhead says:

    Thanks John for documenting what is a/should be BIG worry.
    So I ask a slew of questions to EW, hoping Bmaz is watching.

    Any guess at what impact a criminal Hatch indictment could do to a Scholzmanized manual? Must be after all easier to undo now that there is nobody in charge and easier than undoing the Patriot act. Can we shout and call that this is one more thing to make a condition of confirmation.

    And in the Schadenfreude department. Has anybody checked if any complaints have been filed with the respective Bar associations of BadGirl Goodling, etc. (no hope in Texas for Meirs) Or Libby?

    And finally, how is s â€little hans†von S.,* candidate for the Federal Election Commission doing? Hans has a little hand in all this, surely?

    *g* an intentional Freudian slip

  15. Kathleen says:

    Thank you Marcy for the update. Thanks for all you do.

    Leahy give me hope, I think he looks like god ( the one that I grew up imaging growing up in the Catholic church)!

  16. Anonymous says:

    BSRH – Unclear how a criminal Hatch case would affect the manual. A conviction on the right grounds would hopefully cause it to be pulled back to where it properly was before. It wouldn’t hurt since it is morally probably right to discuss it in a confirmation process; but whoever is installed would still likely follow the direction of the EOP. I have not heard of any bar complaints having been filed. They easily could be for Goodling, Sampson and Gonzales. No knowledge of the status of Hans vonFranz re: FEC; it is, however, a nomination that ought to be laughed off the face of the earth.

  17. Anonymous says:

    The Dems in Congress really need to go back and reread the Prisoners Dilemma literature and learn about the Tit for Tat strategy. When the other guy hits you on the head at every move, you have to hit him back. Cooperation with a non-cooperator (defector in the Prisoners Dilemma lingo) does no good. These guys have learned they can just ignore the committees. Enough is enough.

  20. Tross says:

    Just once, I’d like to see the Congress use a little coercive muscle instead of these countless and endless requests for stuff they’ve already requested. It would go a long way to bringing up their poll numbers if we could just see more action and less talk.

  23. readerOfTeaLeaves says:

    The American Bar Assn (ABA) is articulating priorities that synch with the Congressional Judiciary Committees’ investigative focus:

    1. Insulating USAGs, as well as judges, from ’partisan politics and political pressure’.
    2. Re-examining the State Secrets Privilege –who, when, and what, is admissable in a Court of Law.
    3. Prohibiting torture — aligning American government with the Geneva Conventions again.

    A pragmatist would look at the amount of revenue (and employment) in the ’US legal services sector’ (publications, attorneys, court reporters, judges, librarians, investigators, etc…) and realize that the ABA probably isn’t going to sit on its hands and watch Bu$hCo continue to demolish the DoJ and American justice.

    Many law firms are now ’international’; more than one Managing Partner has too much at stake professionally, personally, and financially, to sit back in silence while inept tools like Sampson, Slozeman, and Gonzo sully the justice system on which all these firms, and their employees, depend.

  24. Neil says:

    One of the things the Dems ought to have on the table for an AG appoint is a real DC USA as part of the bargain.
    Posted by: emptywheel | August 28, 2007 at 15:53

    You are good.

    OT – What five Senate races to you think Democrats have their best shot at?

  25. Jodi says:

    Hey Schlozman deserves a vacation!

    He isn’t working for the Government anymore. He will be traveling abroad for a while.

  27. Anon says:

    I’m so glad I checked out your blog today. I love this story. It is a beautiful one.

    Please let Schlozman go to jail. I don’t expect Rove to get his comeuppance. Or DeLay. But, please, just give me one little creepy Schlozman, and I will die happy….

  29. Anonymous says:

    Jodi, considering his 4 foot 11 inch stature and drunken chipmunk on helium voice; unless you are volunteering for the job, I don’t think Schlozman could get a broad.

  31. Anonymous says:

    Neil

    I suspect we’ll lose LA, gain NH, CO, MN for starters. I’ve also got high hopes for VA. Who knows. Maybe Kerrey will win in NE.

  32. Bugboy says:

    So, Schloz conveniently goes on vacation to weasel out of testifying before congress, THEN he resigns? These guys aren’t just drinking the koolaid, they are chugging it, bathing in it, swimming in it. And they think everyone else is at the pool party too.

  33. katie Jensen says:

    Having a â€why didn’t I know this?†moment. I keep running into this Kerry rumor in the blogger world, but I have to tell you, that locally, there is a black out on this discussion. Not a suprise I guess.

    It has not been on local news (that I am aware or in the local paper-unless buried in a section I don’t read.) I can’t imagine that Hagel would not run. I can’t imagine having Bob Kerry back in nebraska. I kept thinking â€what are these folks talking about?†I missed the article in the big papers.

    There has been nary a hint of this discussion in my neck of the woods. (hailing from Nebraska) Not ruling it out, but somebody needs to let the folks in nebraska mull it over and that ain’t happenin’.

    I had the biggest crush on Kerry years ago, when I was 24 and in college. I imagined myself writing his speeches.(when I was a public relations grad). The crush is gone, but he is still a celeb of good standing in this state.

    fun thought.

  34. Neil says:

    Hey Schlozman deserves a vacation! He isn’t working for the Government anymore. He will be traveling abroad for a while
    Posted by: Jodi | August 29, 2007 at 01:38

    In the Bush administration, vacation time is sacrosanct. Vacation obviates one from reposibilitites associated with one’s job duties such as responding to congressional oversight or mobilizing the country to defend against a terrorist attack such as men flyng airplanes into buildings. We learned that on 9/11/01. Don’t act so surprised.

  35. Anonymous says:

    just one small thought here, EW — as
    i noted in mine, on this     — leahy hasn’t
    even issued schlozman a subpoena, so a
    criminal charge will, of necessity, come
    a little way down the tracks. . . but i
    agree htat the hatch act, and perhaps even
    a bivens-type charge [for the disenfranchisement
    of african-american registered voters] will
    be strong possibilities, at that time.

    p e a c e

  36. Mauimom says:

    Steve – agreed – and when they’re done acquainting themselves with the prisoner’s dilemma concept, they should then read Thomas Schelling’s classic book â€The Strategy Of Conflictâ€

    Could we send along a copy of each of these books to the weak-kneed Dems who’ve just returned from the â€It’s a Small World†ride in Iraq, saying we should just â€get along†with the Republicans. I’m looking at you, Jerry McNerney, plus that guy in Oregon/Washington.