Mukasey: Rejected Job Seekers Should Reapply

Justice Department job seekers who were rejected because they were seen as being too politically liberal will be sought out and encouraged to reapply, Attorney General Mukasey said in a speech in Midtown Manhattan yesterday.

The attorney general's remarks, delivered to an American Bar Association conference, come two weeks after a Justice Department report found that aides to the previous attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, violated civil service law by favoring job applicants who held politically conservative views. In some instances, the report concluded, officials involved in the hiring process tried to learn applicants' opinions on topics that might be regarded as political litmus tests, such as abortion, guns, and the 2000 recount in Florida.

In his address yesterday, Mr. Mukasey said he was not inclined to pursue criminal cases against the former officials involved in the hiring process.

"Not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime," he said.

Mr. Mukasey indicated that his office was taking steps to make amends with job seekers who may have been improperly excluded from consideration.

"To the extent we can, we intend to contact candidates for the Attorney General's Honors Program who may have been improperly eliminated from consideration and encourage them to apply for any vacancies at the department," he said, referring to a program that hires recent law school graduates. "Each of them will be assured a fair evaluation."

Mr. Mukasey said the same would be done for assistant U.S. attorneys from around the country who were "improperly denied" postings to Justice Department headquarters in Washington.

A former district judge in Manhattan, Mr. Mukasey became attorney general last year after Mr. Gonzales resigned. Mr. Gonzales's departure came amid questions about whether political considerations had entered into the firing of several U.S. attorneys. A Justice Department report on those firings is expected.

Mr. Mukasey assured the audience, which applauded him intermittently, that personnel decisions for career positions were being made without regard to politics.

"I am confident that the department is on surer footing today than it has ever been before, and that the institutional problems identified in the reports have been remedied," he said.