Joseph Rich, a 35-year employee of the Department of Justice, has nothing but harsh words for former U.S. Attorney Brad Schlozman. Schlozman was installed as U.S. Attorney by the Bush Administration without Senate confirmation.

It is now becoming increasingly clear that the Bush administration used the opportunity to push out the ethichally-challenged Todd Graves, only to replace him with a political tool that would do Karl Rove's bidding--with the full law enforcement authority of the United States government.

Here is Rich on Schlozman:

JOSEPH RICH: Well, another thing that happened in this administration right from the outset was a great priority on voter fraud. It continued to increase through 2004 and then, I think, particularly after I left in 2006. The priority on voter fraud -- voter fraud is done by the Criminal Division. The Civil Rights Division works on voter intimidation based on race during elections. And the increase in emphasis on voter fraud became more and more apparent, to the point that last year Bradley Schlozman, who had been one of the ones responsible for politicizing the Civil Rights Division -- he had been there from 2003 to 2006. He was one of the first -- I think the first -- interim US attorney appointed under the PATRIOT Act, that gave the Attorney General the authority to appoint people without confirmation indefinitely. He was appointed in Missouri, a battleground state in 2006.

Five days before the election last fall in Missouri, he brought five voter fraud cases against members of -- or I think employees of ACORN for alleged voter fraud. This was contrary to longstanding department policy not to bring or even investigate voter fraud cases shortly before an election because of the sensitivity to having any impact on elections. The longstanding policy was one in which, if there was evidence of voter fraud, the investigation would take place, unless there was a real emergency, after the election.

The fact that that happened in Missouri, the fact that the United States attorneys in New Mexico and Washington, who were following the priority of investigating vigorously voter fraud and yet were removed because they did not indict, is extremely disturbing, because they were doing their job, but in their professional judgment they did not have evidence to bring the cases, and that appears to have been a major factor in their removal.

Click here to watch the video.

Obviously, the Springfield News-Leader Doesn't.

Check out this editorial in the paper today. Bob Dixon believes that the Secretary of State's office should be sending voting registration information to hunters and fishermen that are not registered. While this is a sound theory, why wouldn't government send registration forms to ALL UNREGISTERED VOTERS?

The editorial does a good job of summing up the sane position:

That's a great idea if your goal is to add to bureaucracy and be able to stand before the occasional National Rifle Association meeting to rousing applause.

But if Dixon really wants to add to the voting rolls, there are much better ways. Dixon's proposal would create one special class of Missourian that is targeted for voting. That doesn't make sense to us.

Senator Kit Bond (R-Mo.) continued the recent stream of GOP praise for outgoing Mayor Kay Barnes as she considers a bid to challenge Rep. Sam Graves (R-Westar).

The Hill reports that at a press conference yesterday, Bond said of Barnes:

“Obviously the mayor and I are of different political parties, but the people of Kansas City expect elected leaders to work together to get things done,” Bond said in the release. “Because of [Barnes’s] commitment and dedication, Kansas City is a better place to live and work.”

This follows the unusual public display of admiration of Barnes from House Speaker Rod Jetton.

The fact that these GOP leaders are going so far out on a limb to praise Barnes speaks both to her unique gift at working with others to solve problems facing her constituents and to Graves' ineffectiveness and inability to work well with others.

Professor Richard Fulton put it this way in today's KC Star:

Richard Fulton, political science professor at Northwest Missouri State University, said Bond is sending a signal to his supporters that they can back Barnes with his tacit approval. Fulton said the news conference is a further sign of a split in the Republican Party in Missouri.

“The Bond people just do not like the way Graves does business with (campaign consultant Jeff) Roe and his crew of attack politics,” Fulton said.

Fulton said Bond won’t overtly endorse Barnes, but could offer behind-the-scenes campaign help to ensure she isn’t blindsided by any attack from Roe.

Stay tuned for further developments in the dramatic split within the MO GOP.

With yesterday's masterfully synthesized compendium of Missouri-related Department of Justice malfeasance on Brad Blog and Talking Points Memo's assertion that there's some big U.S. Attorney Purge news on the way regarding the short-time U.S. Attorney for Western District of Missouri, it is a perfect time to reflect on some woefully unremarked upon pieces of Bradley J. Schlozman's record.

Of course, Schlozman earned his way to top billing as a Purge-gate player via his work on a couple of politically motivated hits that were run through him while he served in various Justice-related offices.

It's looking more and more like Missouri will emerge as ground zero in the U.S. Attorney scandal. Josh Marshall, over at Talking Points Memo teases us with this:

As we move forward in the US Attorney scandal this week, remember this name: Bradley J. Schlozman.

Stay tuned.

It's worth noting that Talking Points Memo has driven much of the coverage of the U.S. Attorney scandal so far, so this is no minor development.

And Brad Friedman, at BradBlog, who monitors the GOP's attempts to commit election fraud by making false claims about election fraud weighed in with a heavy duty post on the Missouri situation. (It's worth clicking through just to see his graphic.)

Rather than putting the lucrative work out for bid, Blunt's Department of Revenue has given the work to Systems and Methods, Inc. via a memorandum of understanding under an existing contract Systems and Methods have for child support enforcement work.

As one department insider puts it, "Moving these job functions to SMI will eliminate dozens of jobs at the department and will be very lucrative for SMI. "

Systems and Methods, Inc. is a long-standing client of Governor Matt Blunt's brother, Andy. While Andy, claims that he does not lobby the executive branch, there has been a disturbing pattern of facts that suggests otherwise. In addition to this troubling relationship, Revenue Director Trish Vincent's daughter is employed by Systems and Methods, Inc.

Will this be investigated by the proper law enforcement authorities? Only time will tell.

IT'S REPORTED THAT THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION TRIED TO RESTRICT VOTER TURNOUT...

According to the Missouri Ethics Commission finance report made available this week, Matt Blunt's re-election committee paid "legal fees" to Kansas City-based firm Lathrop & Gage totaling $8,546.11 in December 2006. This follows "legal expenses" payments to Lathrop & Gage listed on the previous report in the amount of $11,616.

Press accounts of Blunt's hiring of a criminal defense attorney in the fee office matter have suggested that the previous payments to Lathrop, made in August 2006, may have been passed through to William Mateja of Dallas firm Fish & Richardson. Mateja had made calls to U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins about the status of the Missouri fee office investigation. Cummins' description of those calls indicated that Matt Blunt was Mateja's "client."

Neither the Governor's office nor Missourians for Matt Blunt has ever answered the question of whether the "legal" fees paid by the campaign to Lathrop & Gage were paid to compensate Attorney Mateja for his work defending Blunt's interests in the fee office investigation. The repeated appearance of unexplained "legal fees" on his most recent finance report should bring renewed calls upon Governor Blunt to explain how those dollars were spent.

In early 2005 the Fired Up Missouri community was instrumental in figuring out and reporting on the intricate web of corporate shell LLCs used by the Blunt Administration to effectuate its fee office money funnelling scheme. One of the key facts from those posts was the central involvement of the law firm of Lathrop & Gage in the design and construction of fee office management company entities.

Now some are speculating that relationships between a key Lathrop & Gage attorney and the Bush White House may have led to the firing of U.S. Attorney whose investigation might have implicated Lathrop & Gage in a government corruption scheme.

Observers are focusing on Mark "Thor" Hearne, who is not only a Lathrop & Gage partner, but has also been one of the most (if not the most) important cogs in the legal machine created by the Republican Party to gain advantage by advancing specious claims of widespread voter fraud --a machine whose creation has led to the US Attorney purge scandal and the current state of disgrace within the Bush Justice Department.

I just sort of noticed this...isn't this interesting...follow my timeline here. March: Todd Graves suddenly resigns as U.S. Attorney in the WESTERN District. March and April: Suddenly EASTERN district attorney Catharine Hanaway makes the news left right and center, appears in print and TV in a whole boatload of busts ranging from porn to gun sales to online betting sites. (just go to news.google.com and type her name in and take a peek.) I have been pretty entertained by these busts when they show up on TV b/c she is getting a LOT of face time. It sort of reminds me of all those FBI busts in the 30's and 40's when other agents did the work and J. Edgar Hoover would make the newsreels and appear he made the collar personally!

Campaign against alleged voter fraud fuels political tempest
By Greg Gordon
McClatchy Newspapers

some excerpts:

WASHINGTON - For six years, the Bush administration, aided by Justice Department political appointees, has pursued an aggressive legal effort to restrict voter turnout in key battleground states in ways that favor Republican political candidates.

Here's a shout out to the Senate Democrats for sticking tight on MoHELA.  There are echoes here of what is going on nationally.  The public overwhelmingly supports the Democrats' position on MoHELA (just like nationally with the war).  Sometimes we'll win, sometimes we'll lose, but we have to stick with the will of the people.  That's how Democrats got back control of Congress and that's how we will take back the Missouri General Assembly.  Last night, you showed that Democrats stand united for affordable education.  You also revealed the GOP Senate Leadership (Gibbons and Koster to name a few) for the thugs that they are.

Breaking News, 1st Century Jerusalem Times. Just outside Jerusalem today, Jesus of Nazareth caused alarm when he criticized those who were praying on the sidewalks of the city. Members of the Pharisee Protectionist Party (PPP) took offense, saying prayer had to be seen to be heard.

Speaking with great authority, Jesus further incensed the local religious zealots, calling them “hypocrites.” He told his followers to pray in their closets where God alone would be their witness, rather than on street corners, hoping to gain admiration for their goodness.

The much-beloved teacher said of those praying on street corners: “They have their reward.” Then turning to his disciples he said, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”

Filibustering again as I write.  Break out the pillows and order some pizza.  Don't you Dems (Wes, this means you) dare back down on this.  The people are with you all the way!!!!!!   Expose the GOP for what they are trying to do . . . take money from college affordability programs to build shiney buildings and give more money to their construction company friends.  Our kids need an affordable education not more construction.  We can do it outside under a tree if we have to.

FILIBUSTER, FILIBUSTER, FILIBUSTER until you fall asleep on your feet and your bladder bursts.  And while you're at it, end the political career of every GOP Senator who backs this crazy plan . . . some of their initials are Gibbons and Koster.

While it served mostly to show that if you're a crackpot with lots of money you can get the media to write an uncritical story about you, Jo Mannies' Sunday profile on millionaire conservative Rex Sinquefield also provided us a narrow sliver of unspun truth.

With uncharacteristic analytical precision, Mannies writes in her story's third graf (emphasis added):

After making a fortune as an investment banker, Sinquefield is prepared to spend millions in the next few years to influence the Missouri public and help elect state and local officials who share his disdain for income taxes and troubled urban public schools.

Exactly.

Jane "Queen of Bad Ideas" Cunningham is running for Missouri Senate, and she's found an anti-schools sugardaddy to sling a little wingnut welfare in the direction of her campaign. While Cunningham raised only $19,010 over the last reporting period, $15,000 of that total --a whopping 79% of her entire haul-- came from one man: Barry Conner of Gainesville, Georgia.

Conner is a real estate developer who runs the Georgia-based homebuilding outfit called America's Home Place, but his sidelight is far more illuminating. Conner is heavily engaged as a funder and supporter of a fringe movement whose goal, by its own admission, is to end public education as we know it. Conner is a key funder of an entity called Alliance for the Separation of School and State, and is a signatory to that organization's proclamation, which states:

"I proclaim publicly that I favor ending government involvement in education."

You know, there is an old saying in politics, just follow the money. After quickly glancing at Graves’ campaign finance report, one thing caught my eye. Over 80% of his money came from out of district corporations and Washington lobbyists. What happened to the good ole’ days of working for the people in your district? I guess PACman Graves decided he felt more comfortable in the company of Washington lobbyists than with the Missourians that elected him.

This is just a quick observation. We will be delving further into PACman's reports and letting you know just who your Congressman is working for.

The man behind the slanderous anti-Kerry "Swift Boat" ads rears his head in Missouri politics.  Bob Perry (aka "Swift Boat" Bob), a Texan homebuilder, apparently is looking to bring his brand of politics to Missouri.  On March 4, Perry and his wife, Doylene, EACH contributed $100,000 ($200,000 total) to Matt Blunt's re-election (?) campaign. 

During 2002, Perry was the largest financier to the DeLay-run TRMPAC.  TRMPAC, the subject of criminal investigations and indictments (including Tom Delay), was tasked with the job of gerrymandering Texas Congressional Districts in a desperate attempt to maintain Republican control of Congress.  

During the 2006 election, Perry gave more to 527s ($9.75 million) than any other donor in the nation. With Perry and Rex Sinquefield's, who also contributed $100,000 to Blunt, history and a commitment of spending millions for pet candidates and causes, it is becoming more apparent why the Republicans championed House Bill 1900 (2006) eliminating those pesky term limits.