Bogden bewildered by Justice complaint

By Lisa Mascaro (contact)

Wednesday, May 16, 2007 | 7:14 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Daniel Bogden says he does not recall receiving any substantial voter fraud complaints during his five years as Nevada's U.S. attorney, a statement at odds with those of some Justice Department officials.

In an interview Tuesday, Bogden said he was surprised to learn that two months before he was fired in December, Justice Department officials listed Nevada among the jurisdictions that failed to pursue voter fraud aggressively.

"I've never heard one peep of a complaint," Bogden said. Neither his bosses nor political leaders in Nevada complained about possible cases, he said. "I was never given any indication of voter fraud in Nevada."

Bogden was among nine U.S. attorneys fired by the Justice Department last year in an unusual purge that some Democrats believe was part of a White House-led effort to bring in appointees more loyal to the Bush administration.

Justice has given shifting reasons for Bogden's firing, but a congressional investigation reveals that Nevada and other swing states that Bush adviser Karl Rove believes are pivotal in the 2008 election were singled out by Justice as places where voter fraud allegedly was occurring.

The Bush administration has made voter fraud a priority since the disputed 2000 election, but studies show scant evidence that eligible voters are being kept from polls or ineligible voters are sneaking in to cast ballots.

Civil rights groups believe efforts to clamp down on voter fraud can suppress votes, especially among the poor, minorities and others who may be intimidated if extra hurdles such as photo IDs are required. Nevada has a growing Latino electorate. For example, about 11 percent of Clark County's registered voters are Hispanic.

"That is the precise issue in this case," said David Cherry, a spokesman for Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley. "Did they expect him to manufacture some cases, given the lack of any evidence of widespread voter fraud in Southern Nevada?"

Republican Rep. Jon Porter said Justice Department's complaints are the latest in a series of unanswered questions. "There is no justified reason why Mr. Bogden was asked to step down," his spokesman said.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' job has been jeopardized by the firings, and Nevada's congressional delegation, with the exception of Republican Sen. John Ensign, has called for his resignation.

But Gonzales lately appears more certain of his standing. On Tuesday he shifted responsibility for the firings to the No. 2 official at Justice, Paul McNulty, who announced his resignation this week.

"The one person I would care about would be the views of the deputy attorney general," Gonzales told reporters.

However, McNulty has told investigators he knew little about the firing plan and regretted not doing more to preserve Bogden's job.

Bogden could not recall any major voter fraud cases during his tenure. The headline case in 2004, in which a Republican-backed firm was accused of shredding Democratic registration cards, was taken over by Justice officials in Washington because it crossed state lines. The FBI investigated, but "it never came to us for prosecution," Bogden said.

Bogden was unaware of complaints Clark County Registrar Larry Lomax made to the FBI in 2004 over large submissions of apparently fraudulent voter registration forms. Lomax said the FBI declined to take the case, which was eventually reviewed by state investigators, who found profiteering but no widespread fraud.

Bogden said to ensure voter fraud cases got attention, he assigned a veteran prosecutor to the job. On Election Day, Bogden visited polling places in Northern Nevada, while the prosecutor reviewed locations in Southern Nevada.