No criminal prosecutions are planned for former Justice Department officials accused of allowing politics to influence the hiring of prosecutors, immigration judges and other career government lawyers…

[Mukasey] told delegates to the American Bar Association annual meeting, “Not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime. In this instance, the two joint reports found only violations of the civil service laws.”

Other intrusions of Bush administration politics into department hirings and firings remain under investigation. Justice officials say the attorney general’s remarks do not preclude criminal prosecutions if wrongdoing is found in the firing of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006 and the hiring practices in the department’s civil rights division.

Attorney General Mukasey says no prosecutions planned in Justice Department hiring scandal by Mark Sherman (Tribune/AP)

See also: ACS Criticizes DOJ Hiring Practices