"Top aides to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales ran the U.S. Department of Justice the way that the snotty kids in your school decided who was cool, and who was not.
It would be funny, if it hadn't affected the way justice is administered in America, and if it hadn't started right here in Minnesota.
One good Republican was forced from her Washington job after she was "rumored" -- what a great way to run a Department of Justice -- to be a lesbian. Leslie Hagen was an expert in domestic violence prosecutions, had worked with Native American authorities to combat abuse on reservations, helped rewrite domestic abuse statutes to make prosecutions easier, and got stellar job marks.
Hagen was recommended by Minnesota's former U.S. attorney, Tom Heffelfinger, who was stunned when he learned Hagen had been forced out, and outraged when he found out why.
"Sexual orientation isn't even relevant," Heffelfinger said Wednesday. "Removing someone is even more scurrilous when the decision is based on rumors. This is the worst kind of high school rumor-mongering and back-stabbing. I'm not joking. There was a period of time when high school kids were running the U.S. Department of Justice.""
Get the Story:Nick Coleman: Hiring at Justice: Sooooo high school, and sooooo wrong (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 7/31)
pwlat DOJ Report:
An Investigation of Allegations of Politicized Hiring by Monica Goodling and Other Staff in the Office of the Attorney General (July 28, 2008) Related Stories:
Report: DOJ appointees broke law on hiring (7/28)
Report: DOJ broke law in hiring young attorneys (6/25)
Indian Country prosecutor ousted over gay rumor (4/9)
Gonzales cites commitment to Indian Country (08/15)
DOJ denies US Attorneys were fired for Indian work (6/22)
Gonzales not committed to Indian Country (6/13)
Editorial: DOJ firing squad targets Indian Country (6/8)
Top DOJ aide denies Native voting claims (6/6)
DOJ cut off Indian voting rights probe in Minnesota (5/31)
White Earth chairwoman seeks ouster of Gonzales (5/30)
NCAI concerned about DOJ's commitment to tribes (5/29)
Heffelfinger supports probe into 'broken' DOJ (5/25)
Ex-DOJ aide cites 'concern' about Indian focus (5/24)
Fired U.S. Attorney of New Mexico has Native roots (5/22)
Heffelfinger was a target in U.S. Attorney purge (4/27)
Attorney firings reviewed at Senate hearing (4/20)
Indian Country crime an issue in US Attorney firing (4/2)
Opinion: Fired U.S. Attorney helped Michigan tribes (3/30)
Documents shed light on US Attorney firings (3/20)
E-mails shed new details on US Attorney for Arizona (3/14)