Phil, this is actually a trend with this administration. (Michelle Malkin and Red State have more on this) Although this word is not official, it is almost certain that Obama will nominate to a federal judgeship the head of the department at Justice who is supposed to be investigating, as part of the New Black Panther brouhaha, many of the same officials who are involved in, yes, vetting judicial nominees. From the Washington Times editorial on Feb. 11:

Now we learn from the “Main Justice” Web site that the person assigned by the department to oversee an internal investigation into the controversy is the leading candidate for a federal judgeship – for which she is being vetted by some of the same offices she supposedly is investigating.

Imagine if ace reporter Carl Bernstein had been interviewing to be White House press secretary while he was covering the Watergate scandal. That gives a sense of the scope of the conflict of interest facing Mary Patrice Brown, head of the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). Main Justice reports that Ms. Brown “is expected to secure a nomination to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.”

The indefatigable Rep. Frank Wolf is keeping the heat on, though. On March 2 he wrote another letter to the DoJ Inspector General demanding that the IG look into the case because OPR is not trustworthy (my words, not his). If I could figure out how to insert a PDF here, I would do so; I may update this item if I can.

Next up: Judgeships for hero worship, perhaps?