Schlozman says DOJ did not direct him to file fraud case

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

Associated Press - June 12, 2007 5:34 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) - The former US Attorney for Kansas City, Missouri, is clarifying a key part of his Senate testimony from last week.

Bradley Schlozman is backing off comments that senior Justice Department officials directed him to file a voter fraud lawsuit in Missouri less than a week before the 2006 election.

Now Schlozman says he merely consulted with senior officials. He takes full responsibility for the decision to prosecute four voter registration activists.

Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy says the clarification raises questions about Schlozman's credibility.

The committee is investigating whether the lawsuit was part of a pattern of Justice officials acting out of partisan political reasons.



Read more: http://www.newschannel10.com/global/story.asp?s=6648530

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Former U.S. attorney U-turns on testimony
By Jeremy Jacobs
June 12, 2007
A former senior Department of Justice (DoJ) official acknowledged Tuesday that he initially provided inaccurate testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.


Bradley Schlozman, a former acting assistant attorney general and U.S. attorney, clarified his testimony in a letter to committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

Schlozman’s letter refers to his office’s decision last October to indict four employees of the Association of Community for Reform Now (ACORN) on voter registration fraud charges despite an “informal” policy of not pursuing voter fraud cases near an election.

Schlozman had testified that he “acted at the direction of the director of the Election Crimes Branch in the Public Integrity Section” in filing the indictments.

However, he stated in the letter to the panel that his initial testimony was inaccurate.


more:http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/former-u.s.-attorney-u-turns-on-testimony-2007-06-12.html

[maddezmom]

1. The War Room: Never mind

Never mind
When senators asked former Missouri U.S. Attorney Brad Schlozman how it was that he came to bring indictments in voting fraud cases just a week before the 2006 elections -- an apparent violation of Justice Department policy -- he testified, under oath, that Craig Donsanto, director of the Justice Department's election crimes branch, gave the go-ahead for the cases.

"His response," Schlozman said, "was if you've got the investigation ready to go, go ahead and indict, there's no reason to wait until after the election."

That was last week. But now, in a letter of "clarification" sent to Senate Judicary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy, Schlozman says -- well, it's a little hard to know what Schlozman says:

more:http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/06/12/schlozman/index.html?source=rss

[Supersedeas]

2. so, who got to Schlotsky -- the cowardice of taking a 180

[NastyRiffraff]

3. I'd venture a wild guess...

..that it was Craig Donsanto. Schlotz couldn't remember a thing, except for Donsanto's directing him. He was adamant about that one. Donsanto prolly said to him "you are SO going to take that back"

[gratuitous]

5. Yeah, and Leahy knew Schlozman was lying

He directly asked Schlozman (paraphrasing), "So if I call Mr. Donsanto in here, and ask him directly whether he authorized you to file this case just before the election, he'll say 'absolutely'?"

And Schlozman said, unequivocally and without reservation, "That's correct, Senator."

Now, a week later, comes the "clarification." Obviously Donsanto got in touch with Schlozman and said that there was no way he was going to back him up on that. It's apparently no longer enough to ask a question and get an answer; you have to follow up with "Is that your final answer, tap-tap, no tap-backs?"

Of course, if this was a Democratic appointee, the ink would be flying, the pundits would be hyperventilating, and it would be all over every program about how Schlozman had LIED to Congress! But since it's a Bush appointee, the response is a collective "Eh. No big deal."

[Betsy Ross]

4. "Bradley Schlozman is backing off comments"

Comments? Come on AP. He is backing off (sworn?) testimony. Big difference