We knew that Justice Dept. higher-ups, yes under Ashcroft too, were giving ridiculous preferences to right-wingers for the Honors Program (the entry-level way into great jobs at the Justice Dept.). That was pretty bad.
But I at least had no idea as to just how bad things were at DoJ until I read this account of the overt, systematic, and successful effort to blackball all Democrats from the top entry-level civil service jobs at DoJ. (Text of the whistle-blowing letter to Congress, via the Politico of all places.)
When I wrote, “I can think of dozens of rational explanations that do not rely on conspiracy at the DoJ” at http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2007/03/big_brother_bush.cfm about the “political profiling” work at http://www.epluribusmedia.org/columns/2007/20070212_political_profiling.html I was pretty convinced something else was going on.
I am less and less so, these days.
Do you know anyone who has a good data set that goes back a ways, say a decade or two?