![](https://preprod.motherjones.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/news/outfront/2008/11/outfront-search-and-destroy-312x162.jpg?w=990)
Just how much has the Bush administration politicized federal hiring? Behold the LexisNexis search string used by Monica Goodling at the Justice Department to screen applicants, as exposed in a July report from the department’s inspector general. (In the database, “w/7” searches keywords that are within seven or fewer words from the search term; “pre/2” searches the two preceding words; an exclamation point finds word variations, so a search for “accus!” would turn up hits for “accuse” or “accusation.”)