Democracy for Vancouver

Your Department of Justice at work:

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Justice Department officials will not face prosecution for letting improper political considerations drive hirings of prosecutors, immigration judges and other career government lawyers, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Tuesday.

Mukasey used his sharpest words yet to criticize the senior leaders who took part in or failed to stop illegal hiring practices during the tenure of his predecessor, Alberto Gonzales.

But, he told delegates to the American Bar Association annual meeting, “not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime. In this instance, the two joint reports found only violations of the civil service laws.”

Tell that to Don Siegelman.

The funniest bit:

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said more needs to be done to prevent political hiring at the agency. “Even if it is true they didn’t commit a crime, it would be appropriate to make what they did a misdemeanor so that in the future, those who violate the civil service laws cannot escape unscathed,” Schumer said in a statement.

Remember this, Chuck?

“While he is certainly conservative,” Mr. Schumer said, “Judge Mukasey seems to be the kind of nominee who would put rule of law first and show independence from the White House, our most important criteria. For sure we’d want to ascertain his approach on such important and sensitive issues as wiretapping and the appointment of U.S. attorneys, but he’s a lot better than some of the other names mentioned and he has the potential to become a consensus nominee.”

How’s that working out for all of us now, Sen. Schumer?

The Dems will never learn. You try to play ball with the GOP and they’ll bean you with it at the first opportunity.