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The New York Times
OPINION
Tilting the Scales of
Justice
EDITORIAL,
nytimes.com on the Web, October 24, 2007
Every time we take a look at the
United States attorney scandal, more evidence emerges that Alberto Gonzales
politicized the Justice Department to the point where it sometimes seems like a
branch of the Republican National Committee.
Yesterday, for example, Richard Thornburgh, a former Republican attorney
general, told a Congressional hearing that his client, Dr. Cyril Wecht, a
Democratic officeholder in Pennsylvania, was indicted on federal charges that
should not be federal charges by a United States attorney who targeted
Democrats.
At the same hearing, more evidence emerged that the prosecutions of Don
Siegelman, the former Alabama governor, and Paul Minor, a prominent Mississippi
Democrat, may have been political hits. And a University of Missouri
professor testified that his statistical analysis showed that the Justice
Department engaged in “political profiling.”
Dr. Wecht’s case has gotten little attention, but that may change. Mr.
Thornburgh said prosecutors are using “unprecedented” legal theories to turn
mostly “nickel and dime transgressions” into major federal felonies. He
charged that while United States Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan went after Dr.
Wecht and other Democrats, she ignored the offenses of Republican officials,
including a congressman whose staff accused him of using government employees in
his election campaign.
Mr. Siegelman’s lawyer, Doug Jones, said the investigation of the former
governor was very limited until it turned around “180 degrees” in late 2004,
after Washington officials told local prosecutors “to go back and look at the
case, review the case top to bottom.” That is consistent with the account
of Dana Jill Simpson, a Republican lawyer who says she was on a phone call in
which Republican operatives said Karl Rove was involved in the prosecution.
In his introductory remarks, Representative Robert Scott, Democrat of Virginia,
said that Mr. Minor’s prosecution appeared to have been political. He said
that a Republican contributor who is the brother-in-law of a Republican senator
was “not even investigated, let alone indicted” for activities similar to Mr.
Minor’s.
Committee members said they have learned of other prosecutions that may have
been political and listed several defendants by name. Donald Shields, the
University of Missouri professor, testified that the Justice Department
prosecuted 5.6 local Democratic officials for every Republican. The odds
of that occurring by chance, he found, is less than 1 in 10,000.
Republicans on the committee refused to take the allegations seriously — even
though this sort of politicization should offend anyone who cares about the
justice system. They called the claims “ridiculous,” and asked the
witnesses if they had specific evidence that United States attorneys talked to
the president or to other top officials about a plan to target Democrats.
That sounds good, but the best evidence about what occurred lies with the
current and former members of the Bush administration — and Mr. Rove and Harriet
Miers have pleaded executive privilege and defied Congressional subpoenas.
They should testify about what they know, and the Justice Department should hand
over documents the committee requested months ago.
The American people have a right to know what happened in the last six years at
the Justice Department. Any wrongful prosecutions should be rectified.
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