Lying to Congress? So what.

Hans von Spakovsky has now retracted his testimony that he gave under oath to the Senate last month. But, of course, he can't be prosecuted for anything because the Bush administration has declared itself immune from prosecution.

WASHINGTON — A former senior Justice Department official has backed off sworn Senate testimony that he consulted with senior agency voting-rights lawyers before inaccurately advising Arizona officials they could deny thousands of voters their rights to provisional ballots.

Hans von Spakovsky, who hopes to win confirmation to a full six-year term on the Federal Election Commission, revised his statement in a recent letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee after former senior department voting-rights lawyers challenged his veracity.