Questions for and about von Spakovsky
Gerry Hebert writes on the Campaign Legal Center Blog: A number of Federal Election Commissioners will face confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary this year, but one of them deserves particular attention. The politically-expedited career of Commissioner Hans von Spakovsky, both as a recess appointee to the FEC and previously as an attorney at the Department of Justice, warrants careful scrutiny by the Committee. The record that has already developed about von Spakovsky is a disturbing one for an individual charged with enforcing the nation’s election laws. ...
The evidence that has become public since [the decision to preclear the Texas redistricting in 2003] demonstrates that the decision to overrule the career professionals was made purely based on politics by a number of political appointees in the Department of Justice, including Hans von Spakovsky—who President Bush later rewarded with a recess appointment to the Federal Election Commission. ...
DOJ lawyers, many of whom have now left the Department, have informally told me that von Spakovsky played a central role in the decision to approve the Texas plan. This was confirmed in a recently published book on the Texas redistricting case entitled “Lines in Sand: Congressional Redistricting in Texas and the Downfall of Tom DeLay by Steve Bickerstaff. Bickerstaff writes:
“The political appointees at Justice controlled how the department would handle the decisions surrounding Texas redistricting, and none of them with any ambition to remain active in this Republican administration or in the Republican Party could dare allow any departmental action to delay or to block it. Loyal service would be rewarded. Hans von Spakovsky, who led the battle within Civil Rights Division to approve the Texas redistricting in 2003, was appointed by President Bush to the Federal Election commission in 2006. The appointment was an interim appointment not requiring U.S. Senate confirmation.” -- Campaign Legal Center blog: "So exactly where were you, Hans von Spakovsky, on the nights in question"ť