senators leahy and specter seek to interview u.s. attorney involved in voting rights limit-efforts

i will remain hopeful that the DoJ,
and alberto gonzales particularly, will
make mr. schlozman available for
sworn public testimony without need
for a senate judiciary committee-
issued subpoena -- but i seriously
doubt mr. gonzales' DoJ will do so.

so, even though the senators -- and
note (again!) this is a bi-partisan
request, given the severity of the
alleged abuses, here -- have asked for
an early date to hear his testimony, i
think the next major move on this front
will likely be a vote to authorize and
issue a subpoena, one with mr.
schlozman's name on it.

May 7, 2007

Mr. Bradley Schlozman
Office of the Counsel to the Director
Executive Office for United States Attorneys
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 2242
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear Mr. Schlozman:

The Senate Judiciary Committee is conducting an ongoing investigation into politicization of the hiring, firing, and decision-making of United States Attorneys. As part of the investigation, the Committee has learned that the concerns of some in the Administration about voter fraud may have played a significant role in the consideration of U.S. Attorneys for possible dismissal.

According to the testimony of the Attorney General and D. Kyle Sampson, his former Chief of Staff who said he “aggregated” the list of U.S. Attorneys to fire, Karl Rove talked to the Attorney General about concern with voter fraud in districts in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and New Mexico. One of these districts was that of David Iglesias, former U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, who was subsequently added to the list of U.S. Attorneys to be replaced. In addition, among the documents produced by the Department of Justice is a 30-page report concerning alleged voting improprieties in Wisconsin in 2004 that contains handwritten notes suggesting a concern with prosecution of voter fraud in numerous districts.

Recent news accounts have suggested that Todd Graves, the former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri and the person you succeeded as an interim United States Attorney, may have been on a list for replacement because of his refusal to endorse a lawsuit against the State of Missouri alleging voter fraud before the 2006 election. This is a lawsuit you approved while Acting Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division and then filed soon after you were interim appointed as Mr. Graves’ successor by Attorney General Gonzales. Several weeks ago, a federal judge ruled in favor of Missouri in that case, finding “no evidence” of major voter fraud in the state.
We believe the Committee would benefit from hearing directly from you in order to gain a better understanding of the role voter fraud may have played in the Administration’s decisions to retain or remove certain U.S. Attorneys. We would like to work out a process for you to make yourself available to the Committee for interviews, depositions, or hearing testimony, on a voluntary basis, and to produce documents in your possession, control, or custody related to our investigation.

Sincerely,

[a pdf of this letter is also available. . .]