Michael Mukasey

U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D)Vermont's senior U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D) railed against a decision by Attorney General Michael Mukasey not to seek charges against a number of Justice Department employees implicated in a political scandal in 2006.

Mukasey told a crowd at the American Bar Association in New York Tuesday that he would not seek to prosecute a handful of former Justice Dept. employees suspected of favoring conservative candidates for non-political jobs, and discriminating against those with "liberal" backgrounds.

In a statement Tuesday, Leahy -- the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- called Mukasey's decision "premature" as an investigation into the scandal by the Inspector General is not yet complete. Leahy also accused Mukasey -- who was appointed by President Bush -- of shielding the White House from further scrutiny over the issue.

U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Middlesex) expressed his grave concern today after a report from the Office of the Inspector General revealing that certain Justice Department officials relied on illegal hiring practices that routinely benefited conservative or Republican candidates over other applicants, particularly in regard to career prosecutors and immigration judges. 

Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a former attorney, said in a statement today: "The report reveals decisions to reject qualified, experienced applicants to work on counterterrorism issues in favor of a less experienced attorney on the basis of political ideology. Rather than strengthening our national security, the Department of Justice appears to have bent to the political will of the administration."