Goodling Says Politics Was an Issue in Hiring
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 23, 2007; 4:06 PM
A former senior aide to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales testified today that she "crossed the line" by considering political affiliation in hiring career employees at the Justice Department, but she minimized her own role in the firings of nine U.S. attorneys last year.
Monica M. Goodling, Gonzales's former senior counselor and White House liaison, also told the House Judiciary Committee that Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty knew about extensive White House involvement in the prosecutor firings before he provided inaccurate information about the issue to Congress.
"Despite my and others' best effort, the deputy's public testimony was incomplete or inaccurate in a number of respects," Goodling said. "I believe the deputy was not fully candid about his knowledge of White House involvement in the replacement decision."
Goodling 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.
The testimony about hiring practices amounts a dramatic public admission from Goodling that the Justice Department routinely used potentially illegal criteria in deciding who to employ for non-political government jobs. Goodling was testifying under a limited grant of immunity, meaning she cannot generally be prosecuted except in a case of perjury.
The statements also provide new evidence of the growing rifts between current and former Justice officials involved in the firings.
McNulty, who announced his resignation last week, 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.
Goodling, who resigned in April, worked with D. Kyle Sampson, then the attorney general's chief of staff, in sifting through lists of U.S. attorneys to be considered for removal last year. She also played a central role in the department's efforts to defend its handling of the dismissals.
The Justice Department's inspector general and Office of Professional Responsibility have launched an investigation into allegations that Goodling may have broken federal law and internal department rules by weighing political affiliations in hiring career professionals.
In one case, Goodling delayed the hiring of Seth Adam Meinero, a Howard University law graduate, in the U.S. attorney's office for the District of Columbia because she felt Meinero was too "liberal," sources have said.
"I may have made a snap judgment . . . and I regret it," Goodling said in reference to that case. |
