[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 13, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S321-S322]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REPORT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today we received a report from the 
Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General and Office of 
Professional Responsibility about their investigation of allegations of 
politicized hiring and other improper personnel actions in the Civil 
Rights Division.
  I held hearings on this situation. At the time, there was a Mr. 
Bradley Schlozman who testified. I stated, at the time, that I did not 
find his testimony credible.
  Today's report confirms some of our worst fears about the Bush 
administration's political corruption of the Justice Department. Not 
only did senior Republican appointees violate Federal law by hiring 
based on politics in the Civil Rights Division, they also lied about 
it. Indeed, they lied about it under oath when they were called to 
explain themselves to Congress.
  I am particularly disturbed about the findings that a senior Justice 
Department appointee, a very senior Justice Department appointee, 
Bradley Schlozman, made false statements under oath when appearing 
before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Lying to Congress undermines the 
very core of our constitutional principles and blunts the American 
people's right to open and transparent Government. It is one thing to 
have a witness come and say they disagree with the Members of Congress. 
That is fine. Everybody has a constitutional right to do that. Nobody 
has a right to lie under oath. Nobody has the right to break the law. 
And certainly a senior member of the Justice Department should not be 
able to consider himself above the law.
  Not only did Mr. Schlozman lie to me and the Committee, but he then 
refused to cooperate with the Justice Department's own internal 
oversight offices' investigation into illegal hiring practices in the 
Department's Civil Rights Division. The clear determination that he 
broke the law corrodes our trust in our system of justice and in the 
Nation's top law enforcement agency. If somebody can break the law in 
our Nation's top law enforcement agency, the Department of Justice, 
what does that say to the rest of Americans? His actions, in fact, 
undermine the very mission of the Department's Civil Rights Division, 
which is charged with enforcing Federal law and prohibiting 
discrimination.
  A strong and independent Civil Rights Division has long been crucial 
to the enforcement of our precious civil rights laws, and experienced 
and committed career attorneys have always been the heart and soul of 
that Division. In the past, the people who worked there, no matter how 
much time you spent with them, you wouldn't know if they were 
Republicans or Democrats. All you would know is that these folks, who 
are among the brightest and best lawyers in the country, are dedicated 
to serving the United States of America and upholding our laws.
  Contrary to those traditions, however, which we have had in both 
Republican and Democratic administrations, this report details 
troubling revelations of political appointees who marginalize and force 
out career lawyers because of ideology, and, corrupt the hiring process 
for career positions. It should come as no surprise that the result, 
and of course the intent, of this political makeover of the Civil 
Rights Division has been a dismal--a dismal--civil rights enforcement 
record.
  This report is just one of the final chapters in the regrettable 
legacy of the Bush administration at main Justice, and it reinforces 
the need for new leadership.
  Now, more than ever, it is necessary to confirm new leadership at the 
Justice Department, starting with Attorney General-designee Eric 
Holder.
  I compliment the Department's Office of Inspector General. They did 
not allow politics to stand in their way. They went and investigated 
this situation.
  I do wish the current U.S. Attorney's Office, appointed by this 
administration, had decided to prosecute someone for these deplorable 
acts. I think the only way you stop such blatant criminal violations, 
especially by people who know better, people who are sworn to uphold 
the law, is that they know they will go to jail for breaking the law. 
That is what should have been done. They broke the law in the Bush 
administration, and the Bush administration decided not to prosecute, 
and I think that raises real questions. Prosecution should be done no 
matter who breaks the law.
  I recall one of the people who testified in that same investigation 
who said: We swear an oath to President George Bush. I said: No, you 
swear an oath to uphold the Constitution. Mr. President, that 
Constitution is the Constitution you are sworn to uphold and I am sworn 
to uphold. It is a Constitution that reflects all Americans. The 
Government is not of a person; indeed, whether you support an 
individual or not, the Government is for all Americans. The 
Constitution is for all Americans. When somebody deliberately, 
purposely, sets out to subvert the Constitution of the United States

[[Page S322]]

and then lies about it--lies about it, Mr. President--I find that a 
heinous crime.

  When we see some child who steals a car, they will be prosecuted, as 
probably they should. But when you have a key member of the Department 
of Justice who lies under oath, who subverts the Constitution of the 
United States, that is all the more reason to prosecute that person. 
What Mr. Schlozman did was reprehensible, it was disgusting, and it was 
wrong, but it also contradicts the very core of America's principles.
  The distinguished Presiding Officer, like me, had the great 
opportunity to serve as a prosecutor, and I have every reason to 
believe he did not show fear or favor when he brought a prosecution, as 
I did not. I did not show fear or favor. Most prosecutors do not. Yet 
here we have somebody who is part of the Justice Department lie under 
oath and do it in a way to cover up and subvert the very laws that 
protect all of us. Our civil rights laws are on the books to protect 
all of us. It protects all of us--White, Black, brown--no matter what 
our race, our creed. It protects all of us.
  What has marked this country since the time I was a young lawyer in 
the 1960s has been our adherence to those civil rights laws. We can't 
go back to a time where they are enforced for some and not for others.
  Mr. President, I hope people read--I will not put it in the Record 
because it is available--this investigation of allegations of 
politicized hirings and other improper political actions in the Civil 
Rights Division of the Department of Justice. It is chilling. I am 
going to suggest that every new person coming into the Department of 
Justice read this investigation. It is a handbook--not of what to do--
but a handbook of what not to do.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lieberman). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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