Meet another clone of 'I can't recall' Gonzo.

But instead of explaining his actions, Schlozman repeatedly claimed ignorance on the many scandals in which he’s been involved. At one point, committee members could no longer take it. Fed up, chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) held up a Justice Dept. manual on election offenses and said:

You know, I tend to think that perhaps you use this more as a doorstop than as something you actually had to follow. … I think you’re trying to break Attorney General Gonzales’ record of saying you “don’t recall” or you “don’t remember.” I’ve lost count of the number of times you’ve said that.

More on the little red book:


The question was simple: was he familiar with the little red book? No, not the iconic instructions of chairman Mao, but the Justice Department manual for prosecuting election cases.

"Somewhat familiar," Brad Scholzman, a Justice Department official replied.

A bit peeved, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) pushed, "Were you somewhat familiar with it or were you familiar with it?

"I was familiar with it, yes, senator," Schlozman corrected.

"That's a little bit better," Leahy counseled.

But that was hardly the end of the little red book, which Leahy noted required that federal prosecutors avoid bringing voter fraud cases close to an election—exactly what Schlozman did when he was interim U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

"I didn't think this was going to have any impact on the election," he said. "There was no individual who was going to be disenfranchised."

The issue at hand were the four voting rights cases Schlozman's office filed against people with the liberal-leaning voter registration group ACORN. During the hearing, Schlozman defended his actions, noting that he had gotten the green light to file charges from an official in the public integrity section at Main Justice as well as from Michael Elston, chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty.

Under questioning from Leahy about the timing of the indictment, Scholzman responded, "The DOJ does not time prosecutions to elections."

To this, Leahy fumed and then screamed, "Well yes they do. The fact is would it have changed the outcome of the prosecution had you waited a few weeks to bring it?" Leahy asked.

"I doubt there would be any impact," Schlozman responded.