Pressing the FBI Chief

A key White House explanation for some of the Justice Department's dismissals of U.S. attorneys is that they failed to aggressively pursue voter-fraud cases. But that seemingly high-minded issue is, according to Democratic lawmakers, a stalking horse for the administration's true partisan motivations.

The issue of how seriously the Bush administration cared about voter fraud arose at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday, where Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) repeatedly pressed FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III to say what he knew about the administration's concerns and about the shortcomings of U.S. attorneys.

-- R. Jeffrey Smith

Schumer: Since 2001, have there been any FBI investigations related to election fraud which you believe should have resulted in an indictment but did not?

Mueller: Not to my knowledge . . . and nothing has come to my level.

Schumer: Has any special agent in charge ever brought such a case to your attention?

Mueller: No, sir.

Schumer: Have you ever been asked by officials at the DOJ or elsewhere in the administration about the FBI's view on how a specific election-fraud case was handled by prosecutors?

Mueller: No.

Schumer: Were you consulted in any way about the performance of any of the fired U.S. attorneys with respect to election-fraud cases?

Mueller: No.

Schumer: Has the attorney general ever conveyed to you complaints about how the FBI was handling any specific election fraud matter or about the FBI's conclusion in an election-fraud case?

Mueller: No.

Schumer: And how about the White House or any other public official from the same area?

Mueller: No.