When the Office of Special Counsel — in charge of preventing the politicization of federal offices and protecting whistleblowers — slammed Laurita Doan, the chief of the General Services Administration, for allowing her staff to sit down for an overtly political presentation orchestrated by Karl Rove, I speculated that Doan’s alleged guilt would also indicate wrongdoing on the part of the Rove and company.
And today, Doan made the same argument. In her official response to the OSC report, Doan argued through her lawyers that it was the briefing itself that constituted an improper politicization of the GSA — and thus a violation of federal law under the Hatch Act — and not her willingness to organize the presentation, nor the fact that she presided over it, nor her apparent enthusiasm for its content. (Doan asked after the presentation how the staff of the GSA could help “our candidates.”)
That’s probably not going to fly, Doanie. I’m guessing any clear eyed investigator at the OSC knows that you’re guilty and the Rove deputy who made the presentation is too. But you’re low-hanging fruit, and Rove is about as well-protected as anyone can be by this administration. You’re going to lose your job long before Bush’s Brain.
