July 30 (Bloomberg) -- William Hochul Jr. seemed to be a shoo-in to oversee counterterrorism prosecutions at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Working in Buffalo, New York, he had won a major terrorism case that brought him the attorney general's top award for exceptional service. He prosecuted federal cases for 19 years, and his would-be future bosses in Washington thought him the best candidate for the post, by far.

Why, then, didn't Hochul get the assignment? Why did it go to someone whose meager experience fell short of even the minimum posted requirements for the job?

The answer is, as you angry white males out there may have guessed, affirmative action. Only this program wasn't aimed at gender equality or ethnic diversity. And it was more aggressively single-minded than the standard preferential treatment.

Hochul lost the assignment because hiring practices at the Justice Department gave an extra boost to a completely different sort of group: Republicans.

And Hochul, for all his bona fides, had two big disqualifiers. He married an active Democrat, and he himself had registered variously as a Democrat and as an Independent.

The lawyer who got the nod, on the other hand, is a solid Republican.

A 140-page internal Justice Department report released this week found that a few top aides in the attorney general's office used politics to hire for nonpolitical jobs time and again over a three-years span.

(The report named none of the job applicants it discussed. The New York Times, Buffalo News and Washington Post reported Hochul's identity.)

Breaking the Law

The Justice Department aides broke federal law and department rules, its inspector general reported. It's one thing to vet political leanings for political appointees. It's illegal when the applicant seeks a nonpolitical career job.

That is a distinction lost to this handful of affirmative action zealots. Also apparently lost to them was the fact that they worked in a department charged with honoring the law.

For jobs like immigration judge, federal prosecutor and legal-policy adviser, for temporary assignments to coveted Washington slots, they not only questioned candidates on party affiliation, they wanted details.

``What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him,'' Monica Goodling, an aide to then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, asked applicants.

``Why are you a Republican?'' she queried.

Political Activities

She mined the Internet for clues to the job-seekers' political activities and views on gay rights, abortion, religion and guns.

When an applicant's name was so common that it slowed down the Internet vetting, the position stayed empty until the search was done. If it meant that caseloads grew and immigrants seeking asylum waited months in detention while this crew hunted for acceptable appointees, so be it.

The idea was to expand patronage slots for loyalists and build a ``farm team'' for future high-level appointments, as one official put it.

All the while, they were infusing the department with right- thinking ideological clones. No wonder so many of Bush's policies got snagged on legal grounds.

Goodling told a career attorney applying to the Office of Legal Policy that Attorney General Gonzales ``expected to receive advice consistent with his policies and beliefs,'' the report says.

As any self-respecting lawyer would, the applicant told her legal advice should be based on objective legal judgment.

Rule of Law

Wrong. Where did he think he was? In a department devoted to the rule of law?

Not while its gate was guarded by Goodling, whose law degree came from evangelist Pat Robertson's Regents University and who at age 31 gained veto power over important hiring decisions.

When rumors that an assistant U.S. attorney at Justice Department headquarters was a lesbian, Goodling held her head in her hands and asked why she hadn't been told of that sooner, a witness told the internal investigators. Goodling blocked other assignments the woman sought after that.

Like any affirmative action program worth its salt, this one knew where to find its targeted population. It recruited from the Federalist Society, the National Republican Lawyers Association and congressional staffs -- Republican only. Karl Rove and others at the White House Office of Political Affairs would send over names and resumes.

Immigration Judges

Kyle Sampson, as counselor to Attorney General John Ashcroft, wrote that he made sure the White House was in the loop in picking immigration judges with the right ``political qualifications.''

And if you think the Bush Justice Department opposes affirmative action quotas, think again.

The department jumped in when the White House's political office e-mailed agencies for help placing 108 job-hunters who ``have loyally served the president.''

``We pledge 7 slots within 40 days and 40 nights,'' enthused Jan Williams, then the attorney general's liaison to the White House. ``Let the games begin!''

Now there's a woman who loved her work.

The inspector general found no evidence that Ashcroft or Gonzales knew about or directed the hiring program for Republicans.

Maybe they didn't have to. The notion that ideology reigns above all else infuses the Bush administration. Whether it's stem-cell research, the effectiveness of abstinence-only sex education or the impact of greenhouse gases on public health, government scientists find their conclusions squashed when they conflict with Bush's views.

If you can bend science to fit your program, why not the law?

(Ann Woolner is a Bloomberg news columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Ann Woolner in Atlanta at awoolner@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 30, 2008 09:10 EDT