JusticeDepartment

Media Silence on Allegations of Partisanship in Hiring Career Lawyers at DOJ

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:47:00 +0000

Rich Noyes

American Spectator senior editor Quin Hillyer appeared on the Fox News Channel's America's News Headquarters program on Sunday to highlight the media's continued silence about the Obama administration's use of liberal ideology as a criterion in hiring lawyers for career Justice Department positions, even though the media leaped on similar accusations during the Bush years.

NPR Brushes Aside Transparency Concerns at DOJ Civil Rights Unit

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 22:54:00 +0000

Matthew Balan

On Tuesday's Morning Edition, NPR's Carrie Johnson highlighted critiques of the Obama White House from the left on their promise to be "the most transparent administration in history," but downplayed questions over the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Unit's use of non-disclosure agreements with companies under investigation.

CBS: Eric Holder 'Ignoring Political Pressure;' Given 'Hero's Welcome' After Bush 'Cronyism'

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:45:00 +0000

Kyle Drennen

In a puff piece on Attorney General Eric Holder on CBS's Sunday Morning, correspondent Rita Braver praised his professionalism: "...ignoring

NY Times: Double Standards on 'Demonizing' Justice Dept. Lawyers

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:14:00 +0000

Clay Waters

Fighting among conservatives is always a popular media story, as demonstrated by the prominent front-page placement of Wednesday's New York Times story by John Schwartz: "Conservatives Split Deeply Over Attack on Justice Dept. Lawyers."

Double Standards on 'Demonizing' Justice Dept. Lawyers

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:32:00 +0000

The Times stands up for Obama administration lawyers who had previously defended Al Qaeda detainees at Guantanamo, fiercely attacking a conservative group for making their service an issue. Yet the Times did not hesitate to attack Bush administration lawyers accused of greenlighting the "torture" of Al Qaeda terrorists.

Clay Waters

Fighting among conservatives is always a popular media story, as demonstrated by the prominent front-page placement of Wednesday's story by John Schwartz: "Conservatives Split Deeply Over Attack on Justice Dept. Lawyers."

The "split" is based on an online clip made by Liz Cheney's national security group Keep America Safe, demanding in stark terms the names of seven unidentified Obama Justice Department lawyers who have worked on behalf of terror suspects: "Who are the Al Qaeda Seven?"

Torturous Reading: Self-Righteous Editors and "The Scary Caterpillar"

admin — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:43:00 +0000

What? "To read the four newly released memos on prisoner interrogation written by George W. Bush's Justice Department is to take a journey into depravity. Their language is the precise bureaucratese favored by dungeon masters throughout history."

Clay Waters

In Sunday's long masthead editorial, "The Torturer's Manifesto," the paper's self-righteous editorial board bizarrely used the Justice Department's extensive documentation of the interrogation methods used by the C.I.A. against terrorist suspects as somehow extra damning. (Of course, if there had been no documentation, the Times and other liberal outlets would have accused the C.I.A.of untamed lawlessness.)

Lichtblau's Incomplete Assault on Biased "Political Hiring" at Justice

admin — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:03:00 +0000

An incomplete story infused with labeling bias: While the Federalist Society is "bedrock conservative," the Council on American-Islamic Relations merely "advocates civil liberties."

Clay Waters

Justice Department reporter Eric Lichtblau, who splashed details of two classified intelligence programs onto the front page, made it there on Wednesday with a summary of a report alleging conservative ideological favoritism in a Justice Department lawyer recruiting program. But is that the whole story?

Fretting Over Potential Attorney General & "Starkly Partisan" Ted Olson

admin — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:01:00 +0000

The Times ignores Olson's legal qualifications in favor of how his nomination as Attorney General might offend Democrats.

Clay Waters

Wednesday's off-lead by Philip Shenon and David Johnston tackled signs that Bush is close to naming former Solicitor General Ted Olson to replace Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. But the Times was less concerned with Olson's undeniable legal qualifications, than it was with how his nomination might offend Senate Democrats.

The Times Worries About Bush's Defense of Religious Freedoms

admin — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:53:00 +0000

The Times is worried about the Bush Justice Department's focus on religion - and its hiring of lawyers from religious schools

Clay Waters

The Justice Department's newfocus on religious freedom is a cause for concern worthy of the front page of Thursday's Times, in a story by law reporter Neil Lewis, "Justice Dept.

Paul Krugman Takes on Bushie "Theocrats" and Their "Strategy of Infiltration"

admin — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 12:52:00 +0000

Horrors! "But did you know that Rachel Paulose, the U.S. attorney in Minnesota...is, according to a local news report, in the habit of quoting Bible verses in the office?"

Clay Waters

Economist Paul Krugman was hired by the Times to write about, well, economics, but his current fan-base comes from his predictable, heavy-handed attacks on the GOP and the Bush administration, often cribbed from whatever points left-wing websites are pushing that week.