APRIL 2, 2009 Alberto Holder And Democrats accused Republicans of politicizing Justice? Perhaps you remember that theme from the Bush years, offered up every other day or so by the media-Democratic Party consortium. The claim was that political appointees at the Justice Department had run roughshod over career attorneys on tobacco, or civil rights, or something -- and that such horrors would never happen in the Age of Obama. Well, the Washington Post reported yesterday as blatant a case of political interference as one can imagine involving Attorney General Eric Holder and Democratic legislation to give the District of Columbia a vote in Congress. Career attorneys at the Office of Legal Counsel wrote a memo earlier this year arguing that the proposed law is unconstitutional on grounds that only states can be represented in Congress. Mr. Holder wasn't pleased, so he asked lawyers at the Solicitor General's office for a second opinion, which miraculously found that the D.C. bill is constitutional. We're in favor of Administrations making their own policy decisions, and an AG is certainly within his rights to overrule career attorneys. But it is extraordinary to overrule an Office of Legal Counsel opinion that we're told is rooted in Justice Department analysis going back to the JFK-LBJ Administrations. It is also extraordinary for an AG to so blatantly politicize the Solicitor General's office, which is the home of lawyers who argue cases before the Supreme Court. Imagine if Alberto Gonzales had tried that one. Meanwhile, the Office of Legal Counsel opinion should give Congress pause about its rush to enact the law, which has already passed the Senate but is stalled in the House over D.C. gun rights . Democrats want the bill to pass so it gives them another House vote, while setting the stage for two more Democratic Senators. We'll gladly run the memo if someone leaks it to us, and, if nothing else, this should end the canard that only Republican Justice Departments are political. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123863025435480649.html#printMode