In 2008 the EAC found itself in need of a General Counsel.  An eminently qualified attorney applied for the position and was in fact selected for the office.  Two EAC Commissioners then started looking into the candidate’s politics, and found that he was a Republican.  These Commissioners then refused to approve his appointment.  It’s pretty clear that Gracia Hillman was one of the Commissioners at fault.  Gracia Hillman continues to serve on the EAC.

With certain narrow exceptions, the federal government has a merit hiring system which requires applicants be judged solely on their qualifications not their political preferences.  The Commissioners who chose to disregard this practice did so to engage in overtly partisan politics.

A complaint was filed with the Office of the Special Counsel.  After a thorough investigation the OSC announced that it “uncovered evidence indicating that the EAC illegally refused to approve the complainant’s appointment because he was a Republican.”

While the OSC was investigating this unlawful discrimination, “the EAC agreed to provide the complainant a substantial monetary settlement to resolve the issues that were the subject of his complaint.”  However bureaucracies, even those newly formed, protect themselves and the EAC refused to admit fault.

That substantial monetary settlement, obviously, would be paid out of our pockets, and represents a bribe to go away.

If one goes to Ms. Hillman's Wiki, one finds that she was nominated to her present position by none other than President Bush 43.  The page itself is a joke.  Here's one of the objective assertions it makes about Ms. Hillman:

Throughout her career, Commissioner Hillman has effectively handled both domestic and international issues. Her areas of expertise include nonprofitmanagement, public policy and program development, political services, the interests and rights of women and minorities, community affairs and election related matters, including voting rights. [emphasis mine]

No mention is made of this scandal, obviously, but the page does repeatedly emphasize the non-partisan and bipartisan nature of Ms. Hillman's performance:

Her work experience includes having served as Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of the U.S., the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the National Coalition on Black Voter Participation, which sponsored the popular nonpartisan grassroots program, Operation Big Vote.

Throughout the 1980s, Ms. Hillman championed many nonpartisan and bi-partisan efforts to ensure open access to the voting process for all citizens and the continued voting rights of minority Americans, including her work on the historic 25 year extension of the national Voting Rights Act.

The link from Operation Big Vote no longer functions.  Neither, for that matter, does the link to her official page.  Operation Big Vote turns out to be closely affiliated with ACORN, as well, which, despite its free-form tax status stylings isn't exactly a non-partisan operation.

Ms. Hillman's Wiki looks like a puffed up resume of the same old dreary bureaucratized racialism and feminism that one would expect of a partisan hack with ties to the UN and State Department.  Taliban?  So what.  She deserves to be hung out to dry, in a burka.

This seems as good a place as any to dump this:

Baucus Nominated Girlfriend for U.S. Attorney

More at Main Justice, including a link to the girlfriend's resume.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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