Justice DeLay-ed.

Another smoking gun...The Post obtains a memo showing that Justice Department lawyers generally agreed that the infamous DeLay redistricting in Texas violated the Voting Rights Act. "The memo, unanimously endorsed by six lawyers and two analysts in the department's voting section, said the redistricting plan illegally diluted black and Hispanic voting power in two congressional districts. It also said the plan eliminated several other districts in which minorities had a substantial, though not necessarily decisive, influence in elections." Nevertheless, higher-ups at John Ashcroft's Justice Dept. overruled the memo for partisan reasons, to great effect: "The redistricting was approved in 2003, and Texas Republicans gained five seats in the U.S. House in the 2004 elections, solidifying GOP control of Congress." As the illegalities pile up, one has to wonder: Is there any facet of the Republican operation that isn't rotten to the core?