The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has seen its share of turmoil in recent years, owing at least in part to changes initiated under former Attorney General John Ashcroft that shifted line-attorney hiring decisions to political appointees.
Now one of the conservatives brought in by former acting Assistant Attorney General Bradley Schlozman has filed a whistleblower complaint with the Office of Special Counsel, charging he was wrongfully fired by the DOJ for complaining about what he calls the “toxic work atmosphere” in the special litigation section of the Civil Rights Division — an office responsible for investigating civil-rights abuses in law enforcement and prisons and protecting access to abortion clinics.
