DOJ looks into Gonzos' Talk With Aide Goodling

[Coexist]

WASHINGTON — A Justice Department investigation into the firings of U.S. attorneys is looking at whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales inappropriately discussed the ousters in a meeting his former White House liaison called "uncomfortable."

The two Justice officials leading the probe confirmed, in a letter released Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee, that they were examining the March meeting between Gonzales and former aide Monica M. Goodling.

"This is to confirm that the scope of our investigation does include this matter," Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine and Office of Professional Responsibility counsel H. Marshall Jarrett wrote in the short letter, dated Wednesday.

The inquiry's expanded focus was revealed as President Bush signed into a law a measure preventing the Justice Department from installing U.S. attorneys without Senate or judicial review. The law fixes a tweak to the USA Patriot Act that the Justice Department made last year, which touched off the firestorm over the prosecutors.

the rest...

[AlinPA]

1. What a joke! Bush**-Rove's DOJ investigating its leader. That's rich. nt

[NC_Nurse]

2. I'm sure they'll be completely impartial.....

:eyes:

[cal04]

3. Gonzales Meeting With Aide Scrutinized

Justice Dept. Checking For Possible Wrongdoing
Friday, June 15, 2007; Page A08

The Justice Department is investigating whether Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales sought to improperly influence the testimony of a departing senior aide, two of its senior officials said yesterday, adding a new dimension to the troubles already besetting the nation's chief law enforcement official.

The Justice Department officials, in a letter released yesterday by the Senate Judiciary Committee, said their inquiry into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys includes an examination of a meeting Gonzales held in mid-March with his then-aide Monica M. Goodling, who testified last month that the attorney general's comments during the session made her feel "a little uncomfortable."

The topic of discussion at the meeting was what had happened in the months leading up to firings of the U.S. attorneys, and Gonzales recounted his recollection of events before asking for her reaction, according to Goodling's congressional testimony in May. She said Gonzales's comments discomfited her because both Congress and the Justice Department had already launched investigations of the dismissals.

Goodling's account attracted attention partly because Gonzales had told Congress that he could not remember numerous details about the prosecutors' dismissals because he had purposely avoided discussing the issue with other potential "fact witnesses."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/14/AR2007061400809.html?hpid=topnews