Politicizing Prosecutors

Now the Justice Department's inspector general and its Office of Professional Responsibility have launched an investigation into whether a former top aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tried to politicize the ranks of career federal prosecutors. From today's New York Times:

The inquiry focuses on whether the former adviser, Monica Goodling, sought to determine the political affiliations of job applicants before they were hired as prosecutors â€" potentially a violation of civil service laws and a break with a tradition of nonpartisanship in the career ranks at the Justice Department.