Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden stepped down from the No. 2 spot at the Justice Department. The reason, we are told, is that he really didn’t get along with the attorney general, the career lawyers, or the political appointees. And the White House didn’t care for him. Well, sometimes things just don’t work out.

But that means we’ll have a confirmation hearing for the position responsible for a great many things in the Justice Department, including criminal matters and “federal programs” (Guantanamo). A high-profile confirmation hearing provides the Senate with the opportunity to get some answers out of a very tight-lipped Justice Department.

For starters, what’s become of the internal investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility over the dismissal of the New Black Panthers voter-intimidation case? This week, Congressmen Frank Wolf and Lamar Smith penned a letter to Holder that read in part:

We remain concerned that the Justice Department is prolonging OPR’s investigation as a pretense to ignore inquiries from Congress and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights into the sudden and unexplained dismissal of voter intimidation charges against the New Black Panther Party. Any written report by OPR will be prepared exclusively for the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, with no guarantee that it will ever be made public.

After five months of unanswered questions, the American people can tell a cover up when they see one. If the Justice Department had any credible reason for dropping these charges, what do they have to hide by providing those answers to Congress?

Perhaps if the confirmation of DOJ’s No. 2 is at issue, Holder will cough up some answers. And by the way, why was the case dismissed?

Then there’s the decision to give KSM a civilian trial. It seems that other than the lefty lawyer brigade at DOJ, Holder didn’t consult with anyone but his wife and brother, not even the New York City Police Department or the Department of Homeland Security. What process does Justice go through? Was the White House really never consulted? Which lawyers were involved, and what consideration was given to the release of national-security data? A key confirmation hearing is the time to get some information. I’m sure the most transparent administration in history will be willing to share all.

There has been precious little oversight of the Holder Justice Department by the Democratic Congress. Now senators will have their opportunity to ask some hard questions. It is, as they say, a teachable moment.