Madison, Wisconsin—As the U.S. attorney scandal swirls, revealing a partisan use of the machinery of government, progressive journalists around the country are mobilized, looking into their local U.S. attorneys and elected Republican representatives for signs of malfeasance and impropriety.
In Wisconsin, recent efforts to enact “voter fraud” legislation and a constitutional amendment requiring voters to present photo IDs when they arrive at the polls have been exposed as obvious components of a broad program of voter suppression, and have been beaten back by democrats and Gov. Jim Doyle (D).
Other efforts have scrutinized Steven Biskupic, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
The Swing State Project (March 24) writes, “In Wisconsin the GOP was absolutely desperate to pin voter fraud charges on Democrats, especially in the black areas of Milwaukee. GOP shill Stephen Biskupic is the Attorney in question in Wisconsin.”
Desperate though the GOP may be in its McCarthyite quest for voter fraud, Biskupic has exhibited apolitical conduct in the administration of his office, reportedly drawing the ire of Republican activists, as also noted in the Swing State Project piece.
Biskupic, appointed by Bush in 2002, knocked down criticism of his office’s probe into widely publicized allegations of voter fraud in Milwaukee in the 2004 presidential election, concluding that there was not sufficient evidence to bring charges.
"No one from the White House nor anyone from the attorney general's office commented to me in a positive or negative way about the investigation into voter fraud," said Biskupic (Wisconsin State Journal, March 16, 2007).
Wisconsin liberals have also shot down suggestions that Biskupic is a Bush crony or shill.
"I don't believe for a second (Biskupic) has any tie to Karl Rove-type stuff. In fact, Biskupic was one of the folks the red meat Republicans were mad at," e-mailed one liberal activist with a long history of scrutinizing Biskupic’s career.
The national Republican political machinations of Karl Rove are deplorable, but they are not monolithic.
Another Republican U.S atty., Steven Biskupic, has demonstrated that independent service to the cause of the justice and the American people is alive and well in his federal district.
Such service ought to be recognized and honored.
Update - March 29, 2007
Gonzales Draws Strong Criticism of Prosecutors
New York Times - New York,NY,USA
"Justice Department officials said the participants included Steven M. Biskupic ..."
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