Todd Graves Has Spun the Press So Hard They Can't Even Get the Simple Facts Right on Schlozman

Every once in a while we get a perfect illustration of why GOPers work so hard at obscuring facts. 

Today's example is a story from the AP's Lara Jakes Jordan about the prospective grand jury investigation into possible perjury by former U.S. Attorney Brad Schlozman.  Jordan notes the connection between Schlozman and predecessor Todd Graves, writing:

Schlozman had defended his decision as U.S. Attorney in Kansas City to bring a Missouri voter fraud case days before the 2006 election, despite guidelines that discourage such cases because of the chance they could influence voting.

Schlozman's predecessor in Kansas City, Todd Graves, testified at the same hearing that he was asked to resign his post after clashing with senior department officials over the handling of some high-profile cases, including the voter fraud case. Graves was one of nine U.S. attorneys who were ousted in 2006 in an unusual midterm purge that ignited charges of White House political meddling at the fiercely independent Justice Department.

Something is very much wrong in this excerpt.

Here's the strange part again... (emphasis added)

...Todd Graves, testified at the same hearing that he was asked to resign his post after clashing with senior department officials over the handling of some high-profile cases, including the voter fraud case.

The "voter fraud case" referenced in that sentence is obviously the same one described by Jordan in the preceding graf, where she writes (again, emphasis added):

Schlozman had defended his decision as U.S. Attorney in Kansas City to bring a Missouri voter fraud case days before the 2006 election...

The "voter fraud" case brought by Schlozman days before the 2006 election was the prosecution of four ACORN staffers for having submitted fraudulent voter registrations.

Someone needs to explain how Graves could possibly have "clashed with senior department officials" over this particular case, since Graves had resigned from his post as U.S. Attorney in March of 2006, some seven months before the indictments were handed down.  Further, it's inconceivable that the case could even have existed at the time that Graves was still the U.S. Attorney because the underlying crimes for which the ACORN employees were charged were apparently perpetrated during the months of August, September and October of 2006.

Graves had long since become a full-time Trailer Lawyer by the time those crimes were committed.

So how does this happen?  How do facts that are easily discernible from the public record become lost, get misstated and peel away from the prevailing narrative?  It doesn't happen by accident and, while the reporter isn't free of all responsibility, it is easy to see how she could write the story the way she does.

The story and its plainly misshapen facts are attributable to all the hard work Todd Graves has done (with the occasional help of Dave Helling) to create the perception that his departure from the U.S. Attorney post was the result of some sort of courageous stand he took against the Department of Justice along with the likes of David Iglesias in New Mexico and Carol Lam in California.   At each turn, Graves has sought to insert into every story and into the consciousness of every reporter the meme that he was pushed out of Justice because he was some kind of conscientious objector to the Department's politicization.

Except, precisely as with the bogus idea that Graves had "clashed" with official over the ACORN indictment, there's never been any real evidence to prove that he butted heads with anyone over DoJ politics. 

But nevertheless, Graves has largely succeeded.  All one needs to know is that it has become de rigeur for any story regarding the U.S. Attorney scandal which mentions Graves also to dutifully note that Graves "resisted" or "clashed" with the forces of politicization within the Department.  Reporters do it reflexively without ever bothering to check if it's ever been true. 

Which brings us full-circle.  Why do Republicans like Todd Graves work so hard at obscuring facts?  Lara Jakes Jordan's piece from two days ago is all the reason they'll ever need.