Ryan J. Reilly points out that Hans von Spakovsky, whose nomination to the Federal Election Commission was blocked by Democrats because of his central role in the politicization scandal in the Bush-era Justice Department, is attacking the new head of DoJ's Office of Professional Responsibility:
Von Spakovsky says that Robin C. Ashton, the woman who now heads DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility, is "petty and juvenile" and "should be disqualified from serving in any career leadership position at Justice, much less the one responsible for enforcing ethical standards."
Worse, says von Spakovsky, she's a "hyper-Democratic loyalist" and, he contends, according to "lawyers who worked with her at DOJ," she's a "highly political person who was so upset over George Bush's reelection in 2004 that she angrily vented her frustration to her colleagues in the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) -- of which she was a deputy director -- and made no effort to hide her contempt for President Bush or his administration."
Reilly points out that Ashton was among the career attorneys passed over by former DoJ White House Liason Monica Goodling for not being a Republican loyalist. An OPR report concluded that Goodling's actions "violated federal law and Department policy, and also constituted misconduct." Von Spakovsky and his colleague Bradley Schlozman ran the Civil Rights Division much the same way, and an OPR report came to a similar conclusion about Schlozman.
Why would von Spakovsky go after Ashton? OPR is currently conducting an internal investigation of the handling of the New Black Panther Party voter-intimidation case, which von Spakovsky and his former ideological allies in the Civil Rights Division have been using to reverse the accusations of politicization they once faced onto the current administration. I suspect that von Spakovsky fears that having someone at OPR who was a direct victim of Bush-era politicization means that the investigation won't ultimately vindicate his view that the Obama Justice Department is racist.
If there was any misconduct -- and there's scarce evidence of that -- I'm sure OPR will find it. But what von Spakovsky is doing is laying the groundwork for discrediting OPR's conclusions should they not support his accusations.
