Report: DOJ Civil Rights Official Favored ‘Real Americans,’ GOP in Hiring

A report by the Justice Department’s inspector general concludes that the former leader of the Civil Rights Division used ideology in hiring and assignments, favoring conservatives he called “real Americans” and members of the Republican Party.

The report (PDF) says the official, Bradley Schlozman, criticized those who didn’t share his political views as “libs” and “pinkos,” the Washington Post reports. The report also said Schlozman gave false statements to Congress when he denied politics played a role in his hiring decisions, the New York Times reports. But on Jan. 9, federal prosecutors declined to pursue charges, the report said.

“The evidence showed that in his hiring decisions, Schlozman considered whether candidates were ‘real Americans,’ ‘right thinking,’ ‘solid,’ ‘on the team’ and other similar terms, which we concluded referred to his consideration of political and ideological affiliations,” the report said. USA Today’s On Deadline blog posted portions of the document. Schlozman helped lead the Civil Rights Division from 2003 to August 2007. He served briefly as acting head of the division before submitting his resignation.

The report is the fourth and last on politicized hiring in the Justice Department.

Schlozman’s lawyer, William Jordan, released a statement to the Kansas City Star saying the report is “inaccurate, incomplete, biased, unsupported by the law and contrary to the facts.” Schlozman is now a lawyer in private practice, according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.