Florida GOP Police Blotter #11: Palm Beach judge involved in Goodling fiasco

We haven't had an addition to the GOP Police Blotter since May, and while this one is only a tenuous connection, I'm going to say it qualifies, since the investigation is ongoing -- and it might end up involving federal charges. (Besides, it's my sucky blog, so bite me.)

Immigration Court Judge Rex J. Ford (right) of Palm Beach has been named in the Department of Justice probe of the GOP favoritism practice that put Monica Goodling in the public spotlight. Judge Ford, whose court is in Broward County, allegedly reviewed and recommended candidates for appointment to the Immigration Court based solely on their Republican bona fides.

The process used in naming Immigration Court judges was not as high profile as the firings of U.S. attorneys, but it was also part of the illegal politicizing of the Justice Department, according to congressional critics.

Immigration Court judges, who hear petitions to remain in the U.S. from immigrants in more than 50 specialized courts around the country, are considered career Justice Department employees and not political appointees.

"Both (Justice) Department policy and federal law prohibit discrimination in hiring for career department positions on the basis of political affiliations," investigators said.

The investigators said that in 2006, Ford joined with two other immigration court judges - Garry Malphrus and Mark Metcalf - in recommending to Goodling six candidates for the court.

Before being named as immigration judges during the Bush administration, Malphrus had been associate director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and Metcalf was a failed GOP congressional candidate from Kentucky.

Both were named immigration judges without being interviewed by the Executive Office of Immigration Review, which was the traditional procedure.

You'll no doubt be shocked -- SHOCKED -- to hear that Judge Ford had no comment, and even if he did, "Immigration Court regulations prohibit him from speaking to the press," according to, well, him.

Gee, it sure is too bad that impeachment is off the table ...