Over at TPM, Josh Marshall thinks they’ve identified a ninth U.S. Attorney pushed out for being ideologically out of step with Alberto Gonzalez’s Justice Department. His name is Todd Graves and he was formerly a U.S. Attorney in Missouri. Graves was on the DOJ firing lists shortly before resigning, and while he hasn’t said outright that he was purged for political reasons, he has given quotes to the media like, “When I first interviewed (with the Department)…I was asked to give the panel one attribute that describes me. I said independent. Apparently, that was the wrong attribute.”
Further fueling speculation is evidence of nefarious meddling by Republican Senator Kit Bond and the fact that Graves’ replacement, Bradley Schlozman, has a history that matches the priorities of the Gonzales DOJ. According to Josh, Schlozman’s “entire tenure at DOJ has been dedicated to turning back the clock on minority voting rights in the United States and more broadly to suppressing Democratic vote turnout.”
Gonzales and Scholzman are being brought before Congress to explain the situation later this month.
