A Few Choice Tidbits from the DOJ Inspector General Report on Bradley Schlozman and Politicized Hiring at DOJ

The report is here. Others are covering the big picture of the findings that there was politicized hiring at DOJ and lying about it. I just wanted to highlight a few points in the report of interest to the Voting section at DOJ.
From page 20, footnote 13:

    For example, in an e-mail on July 15, 2003, to a former colleague, Schlozman wrote, “I too get to work with mold spores, but here in Civil Rights, we call them Voting Section attorneys.” As part of the same e-mail exchange, on July 16, 2003, Schlozman wrote, “My tentative plans are to gerrymander all of those crazy libs rights out of the section.” In addition, while interim U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Missouri, Schlozman wrote an e-mail to a friend, dated June 15, 2006, contrasting his job as U.S. Attorney with his position in the Civil Rights Division. He wrote:

      It has been months since I felt the need to scream with a blood-curdling cry at some commie, partisan subordinate (i.e., most of the [Voting] section staff until recently). And I feel like the people I now work with are all complete professionals. What a weird change. Granted, these changes are nice in many respects, but bitch-slapping a bunch of [Division] attorneys really did get the blood pumping and was even enjoyable once in a while. I think now it’s all Good Cop for folks there. I much preferred the role of Bad Cop….. But perhaps the Division will name an award for me or something. How about the Brad Schlozman Award for Most Effectively Breaking the Will of Liberal Partisan Bureaucrats. I would be happy to come back for the awards ceremony.

From page 43:

    Appellate Section Chief Flynn told us that after Schlozman became Acting AAG in June 2005, he became very involved in the day-to-day assignment and staffing of cases in the Appellate Section. According to Flynn, Schlozman directed her to assign important cases to new, inexperienced attorneys he had hired. In an e-mail from Schlozman to Flynn dated December 4, 2003, Schlozman wrote, “Please let me know when you decide who is going to argue this 4th Circuit voting appeal. If [specific Appellate attorney] is going to do it, that’s fine. If it’s the other atty on the case, I will have either Hans [von Spakovsky] (or possibly myself) do it instead. The potential stakes are too great to entrust this to either a lib or an idiot.”

From page 45:

    The evidence also indicated that Schlozman considered the politics of attorneys in the Division’s Voting Section. In an e-mail dated November 28, 2003, to front office Counsel von Spakovsky and Principal DAAG Bradshaw, Schlozman wrote about a particular Voting Section attorney, “If I recall correctly, [Voting Section attorney] is a crazy lib hans, am I right?” and “a detail would be a great way to get him out of our hair for 6 months.”

From page 47, footnote 38:

    In that incident in August 2004, Voting Section Chief John Tanner sent an e-mail to Schlozman asking Schlozman to bring coffee for him to a meeting both were scheduled to attend. Schlozman replied asking Tanner how he liked his coffee. Tanner’s response was, “Mary Frances Berry style– black and bitter.” Berry is an African-American who was the Chairperson of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights from November 1993 until late 2004. Schlozman forwarded the e-mail chain to several Department officials (including Principal DAAG Bradshaw) but not Acosta, with the comment, “Y’all will appreciate Tanner’s response.” Acosta said that when he was made aware of the incident, he required Schlozman to make a written apology to him for his role in forwarding the e-mail and that Schlozman did so. Acosta said that he believed Schlozman wrote him the apology in an e-mail, but we were unable to retrieve Acosta’s e-mails and did not find such an e-mail among Schlozman’s recovered e-mail messages.

Incredible.

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