Investigation of Allegations of Politicized Hiring and Other Improper Personnel Actions in the Civil Rights Division

摘要

This report describes the results of the joint investigation by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) into allegations that political or ideological affiliations were considered in hiring, transferring, and assigning cases to career attorneys in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (Department). Career attorney positions in the Department are subject to the merit system principles of the Civil Service Reform Act, which prohibit discrimination in the federal work place based on, among other things, political affiliation. See 5 U.S.C. SC 2301, et seq. Complaints that politics was affecting the attorney hiring process in the Civil Rights Division received widespread public attention in April 2007 as a result of allegations by Civil Rights Division employees that Bradley S. Schlozman, a former senior Division official, hired lawyers for career positions based on their political or ideological affiliations. Our investigation examined: (1) whether the Civil Rights Division used political or ideological affiliations in assessing applicants for career attorney positions, including the hiring processes for experienced attorneys and entry-level attorneys hired through the Attorney Generals Honors Program; (2) whether political or ideological affiliations resulted in other personnel actions affecting career attorneys in the Division, such as attorney transfers and case assignments; (3) whether the Divisions senior management failed to recognize and correct any improper consideration of political or ideological affiliations in the hiring and treatment of career attorneys; and (4) whether Schlozman made false statements in his testimony to Congress about these matters.