More on DOJ screwing Texans in redistricting

Hoyer calls for House Judiciary to investigate.

"I strongly urge the House Judiciary Committees to take the lead in investigating this serious matter. As the committee with primary oversight authority over the Justice Department and Voting Rights Act, the Committee is in the position to answer all the questions raised in the article. As they conduct hearings into renewing the Voting Rights Act, Chairman Sensenbrenner and Ranking Democrat Conyers should resolve to get to the bottom of this disturbing report."

They should do it, keep this story alive. And you should keep a copy of this story for your file. Years from now you'll be in a campaign and be tempted to show mercy to some asshole right-winger. Pull this story out, read it again, and bury the son of a bitch.

Alright, off the rant, Hoyers also makes the good point that:

"Third, their certification of the Texas redistricting plan may have misled the three-judge panel into upholding it almost two years in the belief that no such certification would have been possible unless it had first withstood the legal and analytical scrutiny of the department's election law experts. Had the panel known that career lawyers in fact concluded the plan violated the law and thus should not be approved, it is entirely conceivable the panel would have rejected the plan."

In the theme of, political asshats loyal to Bush running out career lawyers at DOJ see:

Head of DOJ Tobacco Trial Team Quits

Pete YostThe Associated Press12-02-2005

The lead trial lawyer in the government's landmark lawsuit against the tobacco industry has quit the case and left the Justice Department, a move that comes at a particularly sensitive time when the companies and the department could still negotiate a settlement.

Sharon Eubanks, who had aggressively pursued the racketeering case against the tobacco industry, was withdrawing effective Thursday, the government said in a one-sentence filing in U.S. District Court.

Eubanks said her supervisors' failure to support her work on the tobacco case influenced her decision to retire after 22 years with the department.

Her withdrawal follows a stunning reversal in June in which the Justice Department disregarded the recommendations of its own witness -- Dr. Michael Fiore -- and reduced the amount it was demanding from the tobacco industry for smoking cessation programs to $10 billion. Fiore had proposed $130 billion.

After strong criticism from Democrats, the department is investigating whether political appointees inappropriately pressured the trial team to slash the proposed penalty against the companies.

"The political appointees to whom I report made this an easy decision," Eubanks told The Washington Post. She said her work on the tobacco case has been professionally rewarding but her politically- appointed bosses "have been somewhat less than supportive of the team's efforts," the newspaper reported on Thursday.