Greedy Trial Lawyer
Crossing The Line Replaces Walking The Line At Justice Department
Category: The Latest Baddest
I crossed the line watching the testimony of Monica Goodling yesterday. I now believe nobody in the Justice Department headquarters knows what the law is, what their precise job duties are, who was running the place and how to provide factual accounts of important events to the public or Congress.
Goodling Says She 'Crossed the Line'
Ex-Justice Aide Criticizes Gonzales While Admitting to Basing Hires on PoliticsA former senior aide to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales leveled serious new accusations against him and his deputy yesterday, describing an "uncomfortable" attempt by Gonzales to discuss the firings of U.S. attorneys as Congress and the Justice Department were intensifying their investigations of the issue.
Monica M. Goodling, who resigned last month as Gonzales's senior counselor and White House liaison, also told the House Judiciary Committee yesterday that she "crossed the line" by using political criteria in hiring a wide array of career professionals at Justice, including looking up political donations by some applicants. [Based on the combined testimony of the top management at the Department of Justice it appears "line dancing" may be a regular noontime activity.]
Goodling, 33, alleged that Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty was "not fully candid" with Congress about his knowledge of White House involvement in the firings. McNulty, who tendered his resignation last week, disputed that.
Under intensive questioning from Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.), Goodling also described a mid-March meeting with Gonzales that began as a discussion of her future at Justice but ended with talk about the U.S. attorneys' firings.
"Let me tell you what I can remember," he said, according to her account.
"He laid out for me his general recollection . . . of some of the process" of the firings and then asked "if I had any reaction to his iteration," Goodling said.
She said the conversation made her "a little uncomfortable" because she knew that she, Gonzales and others would be asked to testify before Congress.
"Do you think, Ms. Goodling, the attorney general was trying to shape your recollection?" Davis asked.
Goodling paused, then said: "No . . . I just did not know if it was a conversation that we should be having, and so I just -- just didn't say anything."
She added that she thought Gonzales was only "being kind."
It may be that Alberto Gonzales' only redeeming character trait is his reported kindness.
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.greedytriallawyer.com/admin/mt-tb.cgi/506