Goodling Says Deputy Attorney General Misled Congress (US Attorneys firings hearing)

[tiptoe]

Source: WashingtonPost.com

Goodling Says Deputy Attorney General Misled Congress

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 23, 2007; 11:42 AM

Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty knew about extensive White House involvement in the firings of U.S. attorneys before he provided inaccurate information about the issue to Congress, a former senior Justice aide testified this morning.

Monica M. Goodling, speaking publicly for the first time about her role in the prosecutor firings, also said McNulty urged her not to attend a private Senate briefing, saying that her status as White House liaison would raise questions among lawmakers about possible White House involvement in the dismissals.

"I believe the deputy was not fully candid about his knowledge of the White House's involvement," Goodling testified at the House Judiciary Committee, which has granted her immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony.

The statements from Goodling, a former senior counselor to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, provides dramatic new evidence of the growing rifts between current and former Justice officials involved in the firings. The testimony also provides another serious challenge for McNulty, who announced last week that he was resigning later this summer.

McNulty and Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General William E. Moschella have told lawmakers that both of them felt misled by Goodling, who participated in briefings prior to testimony that each of them provided in February and March.
...

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/23/AR2007052300728.html?hpid=topnews

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View Live Webcast      C-Span 3 coverage

General Discussion - Monica Goodling, witness, Thread #11 (with links to pre-break threads #1-10)

Laughing at Attempted Theocracy - article with link to Mark Crispin Miller video commentary re degree of danger in the attempt to impose biblical law on the USA; concern over trivialization of the matter by Bill Maher and Jon Stewart

[zbdent]

1. I have some faint memories of a hallucination I once had ...

where Republicans thought that misleading Congress was a punishable offense ... it all seemed so real ...

Something about someone named Clinton ... and some ugly guy in a dress talking about Alger Hiss ...

[underpants]

2. They must have ordered a new bus to throw McNulty under it

This confirms that the White House was completely involved.

[hvn_nbr_2]

23. Dear Miss Manners: Is it impolite to eat popcorn while watching them eat their own?

:popcorn:

[rocktivity]

3. Oh, so the whole thing was McNulty's fault--that's what I thought!

But if that's the case, why didn't YOU tell Gone-zales what was going on???

:eyes:
rocknation

[Lerkfish]

4. and...mcnulty gets thrown under the bus. "my little pet scapegoat"

soooooooo predictable, this crowd.

meeting before the testimony: what ever you do, monica, blame mcnulty.

[MidwestTransplant]

5. Let's see if McNulty pushes up his departure date.

[LiberalFighter]

6. Maybe he will become a pit bull and fight back?

[LiberalFighter]

7. Maybe he will rip a new hole in her?

[ihelpu2see]

8. It will end up being he said, she said and still no impeachment....

Impeachment should start with Gonzo then Rice for not answering the House subpoena then Cheney.... Especially since the war prez is going to get a chance to keep funding this disaster with out a time line????

[Eugene]

9. Former Gonzales aide admits "crossing the line"

Source: Reuters

Former Gonzales aide admits "crossing the line"

By Thomas Ferraro
1 hour, 27 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former aide to U.S. Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales told Congress on Wednesday she "crossed the line"
by asking improper political questions of Justice Department
applicants.

But Monica Goodling, the 33-year-old assistant who resigned in the
investigation of the department's firings of U.S. prosecutors said
she had little role in the scandal that has consumed Democratic
lawmakers in recent months and prompted bipartisan calls for
Gonzales to step down.

The former employee of the Republican National Committee testified
only after being granted immunity from prosecution.

"I do acknowledge that I may have gone too far in asking political
questions of applicants for career positions and may have taken
inappropriate political considerations into account on some
occasions," Goodling told the House of Representatives Judiciary
Committee.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070523/pl_nm/usa_prosecutors_dc

[tiptoe]

10. Former Gonzales aide admits "crossing the line" (Goodling testimony)

Source: Reuters

Former Gonzales aide admits "crossing the line"

By Thomas Ferraro
Wed May 23, 2007 12:43PM EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former aide to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told Congress on Wednesday she "crossed the line" by asking improper political questions of Justice Department applicants.
...
"I do acknowledge that I may have gone too far in asking political questions of applicants for career positions and may have taken inappropriate political considerations into account on some occasions," Goodling told the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee.

"I regret these mistakes," said Goodling, a graduate of conservative Christian leader Pat Robertson's Regent University who served as a senior counsel to Gonzales and the department's White House liaison.
...
Asked if she believed she had done anything illegal, Goodling told the lawmakers: "I know I crossed the line."

"But I didn't mean to," she added.
...

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2323178520070523

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In case you didn't catch Monica Goodling this morning, this says it all: (post by 'lulu in NC')

*** Monica Goodling Thread #12 *** Regents IS A REAL LAW SCHOOL, GOD DAMNIT!

[kestrel91316]

11. Mistakes were made. Oops, I accidentally broke the law. My bad.

[Tiggeroshii]

12. Well somebody's lying, that's for sure...

And so I'm sure somebody's going to get nailed for it. Most likely, her and Gonzales are the liars, and she didn't take proper advantage of this immunity she was given.

[damntexdem]

13. I didn't know the gun was loaded, and I'm so sorry my friend.

I didn't know the gun was loaded; and I'll never, never do it again.

LOL!!!

[MissMillie]

14. Imagine my surprise!

I'm shocked, shocked that there's gambling in this establishment.

[BikeWriter]

15. Get this, she's a senior counsel to Gonzales,...

hiring and firing Federal AGs and her qualifications are she's a graduate of conservative Christian leader Pat Robertson's Regent University!

[BradBlog]

16. Goodling Says Dep. AG Withheld Knowledge of 2004 'Vote Caging' Allegations of Rove Aide Griffin

Source: BRAD BLOG



Goodling Says Dep. Attorney General 'Incomplete or Inaccurate' in Regard to 'Vote Caging' Allegations About Karl Rove Aide
Says DAG Paul McNulty Withheld Knowledge of Tim Griffin's Involvement in Challenging Minority Voter Registration in 2004
Former Rove Aide Griffin Posted to U.S. Attorney Position in Arkansas...

From Monica Goodling's opening statement to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee this morning <[i>emphasis added]:

Despite my and others' best efforts, 's public testimony was incomplete or inaccurate in a number of respects. As explained in more detail in my written remarks, I believe that the Deputy was not fully candid about his knowledge of White House involvement in the replacement decision, failed to disclose that he had some knowledge of the White House's interest in selecting Tim Griffin as Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, inaccurately described the Department's internal assessment of the Parsky Commission, and failed to disclose that he had some knowledge of allegations that Tim Griffin had been involved in vote "caging" during his work on the President's 2004 campaign.

The RNC agreed to cease the practice in a 1986 consent decree in a court case brought after they had "tried to have 31,000 voters, most of them black, removed from the rolls in Louisiana when a party mailer was returned, " according to the Washington Post.

MORE DETAILS, EXPLANATION OF ILLEGAL "VOTE CAGING":
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4591

Read more: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4591

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

17. I couldn't watch the whole thing.

I had things to do and besides, murderous ideations are never something you want to have welling up inside of you.

So tell me: Did she ever retreat from her initial and totally disingenuous, not to mention goddamned stupid explanation of caging?

[Supersedeas]

18. Tim Griffin should always be associated with Vote Caging--* Attorney awarded

[sallyseven]

19. Toss her lying ass in jail.

She is not telling the truth. Those right wing nuts never do.

[MasonJar]

20. Naturally it was not Gonzo. These people are idiots; do they not think

that those villified will turn on them and out the whole ugly charade?

[lovuian]

21. its the same strategy as Libby feed them a underling

same strategy as Enron feed them a Fastow
meanwhile the real bosses walk away freely

I would hate to work under these people

[Straight Shooter]

22. "Goodling points the finger at McNulty and McNulty points back."

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003288.php

But here's a statement just out from McNulty, via the Department of Justice:

“I testified truthfully at the Feb. 6, 2007, hearing based on what I knew at that time. Ms. Goodling's characterization of my testimony is wrong and not supported by the extensive record of documents and testimony already provided to Congress.”

[Eugene]

24. Goodling: Gonzales tried to review story

Source: Associated Press

Goodling: Gonzales tried to review story

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer
47 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - A former Justice Department official at the center of
the uproar over prosecutor firings told House investigators Wednesday
that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tried to review his story of
the dismissals with her at a time when lawmakers were homing in on
conflicting accounts.

"It made me a little uncomfortable," Monica Goodling, Gonzales' former
White House liaison, said of her conversation with the attorney general
just before she took a leave of absence in March. "I just did not know
if it was appropriate for us to both be discussing our recollections of
what had happened."

-snip-

Goodling's dramatic story about her final conversation with Gonzales
brought questions from panel members about whether he had tried to
align her story with his and whether he was not truthful in his own
congressional testimony.

Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee last month that he didn't
know the answers to some questions about the firings because he was
steering clear of aides — such as Goodling — who were likely to be
questioned.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070523/ap_on_go_co/fired_prosecutors

[calimary]

25. One common thread through all this disgrace: "the buck stops over there somewhere."

Keith Olbermann commented on Elle Woods' testimony today. No kidding.

Goldilocks and the Three BILLION LIES.