Comment Of Sen. Patrick Leahy,
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee,
On The Resignation Of Assistant Attorney General Wan Kim,
Head Of The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division
August 23, 2007

“This is yet another high level departure from a Justice Department that has seen its leadership ranks emptied in the last few months. The vacancy rate at the department’s highest levels is another index of the extent to which the current Administration has blunted the Justice Department’s sense of direction and tainted its sense of purpose.

“The politicization of the Civil Rights Division – long one of the most vital and well respected units of our legal system -- has been one of the most grievous travesties that have been uncovered during the investigation of the mass firings of U.S. Attorneys. Mr. Kim is leaving the Civil Rights Division at a time when there are serious concerns about the Division’s priorities, hiring, and decision-making process. The actions of former Department officials like Brad Schlozman call into question the Division’s commitment to civil rights enforcement and reveal the true cost of injecting corrosive political influences into the work of the Justice Department. It should come as no surprise that the result, and of course the intent, of the political makeover of the Civil Rights Division has been a dismal civil rights enforcement record. I hope that the President promptly sends us a nominee who understands that the Civil Rights Division is entrusted with defending our most precious rights as Americans, including our fundamental right to vote and our rights against discrimination.”

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