Randall Prausa had no idea his right to vote had been infringed. At the time, he was fighting overseas in Bush's war, unaware that as he served his country the man who had lied to put him in harm's way had one of his toadies working on stripping Prausa of his most basic and important right as an American. Why? Because Prausa was A) considered a likely Democratic voter because of his race/ethnicity and B) because the fact that he was overseas and wouldn't be aware of what was going on made him an easy target. The man who did this to Mr. Prausa? Congressman-elect Tim Griffin.
So, how did House Republicans, one of whom is laughably calling President Obama "one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times" deal with Mr. Griffin's election to Congress. By putting the criminal on the House Judiciary Committee.
From TPM, linked above:
A few years ago, Tim Griffin was a key figure in of the biggest scandals in the Bush administration. Democrats said -- and the Justice Department Inspector General later concluded -- that the Bush White House and Justice Department pushed out U.S. Attorney H.E. "Bud" Cummins III to give Griffin, a former aide to presidential adviser Karl Rove, a plum spot as interim U.S. attorney that would pad his resume.
Now Griffin, who was elected to Congress from Arkansas in November, has been named by House Republicans to be a member of the House Judiciary Committee -- the very same committee which took a close look at his own role in the scandal that ultimately lead to the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
"Tim Griffin was a linchpin of one of the dirtiest, Washington-insider schemes that brought down the Bush-era Justice Department and now, ironically, House Republicans have appointed him to oversee the very department he helped undermine," Jesse Ferguson of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said in a statement.
"Griffin loves to talk about his 6-month stint as a US Attorney but forgets to tell voters that he was forced to quit amid the national scandal about his hiring," Ferguson added. "It came to light that Tim Griffin was illegitimately appointed to the role of US Attorney as part of a massive controversy over unprecedented political influence over the Department of Justice. Arkansas families are right to question the character of Tim 'Dirty Tricks' Griffin and question his appointment to oversee our justice system knowing his rap sheet."
A DOJ Inspector General report released in October 2008 found that the department had improperly fired Cummins as U.S. Attorney for the eastern district of Arkansas to make room for Griffin in part due to pressure from the White House. "Getting [Griffin] appointed was important to Harriet, Karl, etc.," Kyle Sampson, the DOJ official who took the lead on the firings of the U.S. attorneys, wrote.
For those of you who don't remember, it was Tim Griffin's own incompetence that led to him sending the caging lists to the wrong email address, detailing the scheme to disenfranchise the poor, blacks, latinos, and active duty soldiers, and it eventually forced him to resign in a teary eyed speech that's really quite nauseating to watch.
You know what else is quite nauseating? The fact that they put the man who targetted active duty soldiers in his caging lists on the armed services committee as well.