The Justice Department is being accused of a discriminatory ideological bias in the hiring of new lawyers over the last six years. In a new report, the Justice Department’s inspector general says top officials illegally rejected many qualified applications because they were deemed as “liberal.” The applications were part of a recruitment program tapping young law school graduates. The shift began under then-Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2002 and was said to accelerate under his successor, Alberto Gonzales. Emails show applications were vetted for “leftist commentary” or “buzz words” like environmental and social justice as grounds for rejections. Membership in groups such as the American Constitution Society, Greenpeace or the Poverty and Race Research Action Council were seen as drawbacks, while membership with the right-wing Federalist Society was seen positively. The inspector general’s preliminary findings are the first in an ongoing probe into the overall politicization of the Justice Department.