State of Play: Politicizing Justice
A Justice Department investigation report released this morning found that the Justice Department illegally took politics into account in hiring career prosecutor and immigration judges. The report blames top aides to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales — but says Gonzales was largely unaware of the hiring practices. The report details one incident where the Justice Department’s former White House liaison, Monica Goodling, excluded a candidate because, "judging from his resume, he appeared to be a liberal Democrat."
TV networks and east coast news outlets are giving the story big play, but major media west of Appalachia are playing the story lower on their homepages or on inside pages.
Justice Department Report on Hiring Finds Violations (The New York Times)
Report Finds Former Justice Aids Broke Law in Selection of Prosecutors (The Wall Street Journal)
Justice Officials Repeatedly Broke Law on Hiring, Report Says (The Washington Post)
Bush Justice officials broke law: DOJ IG (Chicago Tribune)
Justice Dept.: Hiring Scandal Violated Law (CBS News)
