Justice Department Official Sends Letter to Congress to 'Clarify' Past Testimony

June 12, 2007 — -- A Justice Department official has revised the testimony he gave last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the latest turn in the saga of the fired U.S. attorneys controversy.

Bradley Schlozman, who had served as the interim U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri, was sharply questioned by committee Democrats June 5 about the timing of an indictment he brought just days before the November 2006 election.

Those indicted were members of Acorn, a liberal activist group.

Dems Step Up Questioning

During the hearing, which was attended only by committee Democrats, Schlozman was extensively questioned about the timing of the indictments and about a Justice Department policy book on election fraud, which states, "Most if not all investigation of an alleged election crime must await the end of the election to which the allegation relates."

Schlozman told the panel June 5: "I acted at the direction of the director of the Election Crimes Branch in the Public Integrity Section. We asked whether he wanted us to go forward or delay until after the election, and he said, 'Go forward,' in e-mail traffic."

Letter 'To Clarify My Testimony'

Schlozman sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Monday, in which he stated, "I wanted to take the opportunity to clarify my testimony with regard to the timing of the voter registration fraud indictments.

"I wanted to be clear that while I relied on the consultation with, and suggestions of the Elections Crimes Branch in bringing the indictments when I did, I take full responsibility for the decision to move forward with the prosecutions related to Acorn while I was the U.S. attorney," Schlozman's letter noted.

Chilling Effect?

During last week's hearing, committee Democrats berated Schlozman, telling him his actions and the timing of the indictment could have chilled some voters' attitudes before the election.

"Would it have affected the prosecution, would it have affected your ability to bring the prosecution if you had just waited a few weeks until the election was over?" Leahy asked Schlozman at the hearing.

The indictment charged four individuals from Acorn, a nonprofit community organization that seeks to improve minority and low-income communities, with submitting false voter applications to the Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners. The four defendants in the case have all pleaded guilty.

Policy Matters

Schlozman and other Justice Department officials said that the decision was solely Schlozman's, since he was serving as the U.S. attorney. Justice Department policy, they added, was not implicated, since that policy only bars prosecutors from talking to voters and other potential investigative techniques.

"The Justice Department policy cited, which focuses on investigative activities and not charging decisions, does not apply to every case related to the election process," Department of Justice spokesman Dean Boyd said in a statement.

'It Surprised Me'

During the June 5 hearing, Todd Graves, the U.S. attorney in the district before Schlozman, said, "It surprised me that they'd [the indictments] been filed that close to an election."

Graves was asked to leave his U.S. attorney post in January 2006 "to give another person a chance" and make room for Schlozman, who had no previous prosecutorial experience.

Schlozman replaced Graves but only served a year as the U.S. attorney in the district before returning to Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Schlozman has been the focus of some scrutiny during the investigation into the firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year, amid charges of politicizing a department that has long been viewed as being above the rancor of politics.

Fired Attorneys Fallout

Monday, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales faced a Senate no-confidence vote, which required 60 votes to be considered. The largely symbolic measure did not pass, but the embattled Attorney General's leadership of the department has been questioned by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress.

The Justice Department has been trapped between the White House and Congress as the Bush administration continues to refuse testimony from top White House aides Karl Rove and former White House counsel Harriet Miers on the fired attorneys matter.

Leahy said in a statement Tuesday: "This Justice Department and this administration already suffer from a severe credibility crisis, and learning that yet another senior official was less than forthcoming during his testimony before Congress does little to restore any of the lost trust or eroding confidence in their leadership."

In the latest development, the House Judiciary Committee announced Tuesday that outgoing Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, the second in command at the Justice Department, will testify before the committee next week.