Goodling gets immunity

April 25, 2007

Last night on MSNBC, fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias said former Alberto Gonzales aide Monica Goodling is the key to understanding exactly what transpired in the prosecutor purge. “I think Monica Goodling is holding the keys to the kingdom,” Iglesias said. “I think if they get her to testify under oath with a transcript, and have her describe the process between the information flow between the White House counsel, White House and the Justice Department, I believe the picture becomes a lot clearer.”

Of course, Goodling has refused to cooperate with any investigation, recently announcing that she would take advantage of her Fifth Amendment privileges, a move that forced Goodling to resign. (Her claim against self-incrimination was always rather dubious; she was basically refusing to testify because, as her lawyer explained, she thought Dems would be mean to her.)

Regardless, lawmakers needed to hear from her. As a recent Legal Times profile explained, Goodling “is far from just a mid-level aide who played a peripheral role in the purge. On the contrary, she’s very well-connected and apparently one of the main drivers behind the process of selecting U.S. attorneys.”

So, today, she got an immunity deal.

A House committee voted Wednesday to grant immunity to Monica Goodling, a key aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales during the firings of eight U.S. attorneys.

She had refused to testify, invoking her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.
The 32-6 vote by the House Judiciary Committee surpassed the two-thirds majority required to grant a witness immunity from prosecution. A separate vote to authorize a subpoena for Goodling passed by voice vote.

The six “no” votes were, of course, from Republicans. Guess what their argument was?

Paul Kiel explains.

The Republican dissenters, we understand, were Reps. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Chris Cannon (R-UT), Randy Forbes (R-VA), Steve King (R-IA), Trent Franks (R-AZ), and Louie Gohmert (R-TX). Rep. Cannon claimed that the investigation was harming the Justice Department’s ability to conduct business, and Rep. Forbes called the committee’s investigation the “hearings to nowhere,” saying that the investigation was interfering with the committee’s legislative work. Rep. Sensenbrenner wondered whether it was wise to grant Goodling immunity, because doing so would let her off the hook.

First, if this scandal has begun to undermine the Justice Department’s ability to function, that’s the fault of those whose actions led to the scandal. Second, if anyone seriously believes Sensenbrenner wants to target Goodling for prosecution, I have some lovely swampland in Florida I’d love to sell.

As for the schedule, it looks like we’ll still have to wait a while until Goodling makes an immunized appearance before lawmakers. The Justice Department will consider the immunity deal and check it against other investigations, and a federal court will have to approve the deal.

This could take several weeks, but if Goodling really does hold “the keys to the kingdom,” it’ll be worth the wait.

I am afraid that in the end, immunity or not, Goodling will be suffering from the same memory disorder as Sampson and Gonzales.

  • ***The Justice Department will consider the immunity deal…***

    …and stonewall it until the end of time itself….

  • Orville Redenbacher will be popping so much popcorn in anticipation of Monica Goodling testimony, he may work himself to death. Oh, wait.

  • Everything about Goodling, from her name to her fanatical beliefs to her “schooling” to the job she got to pleading the fifth to being granted immunity is SURREAL.

    I don’t think I’d trust anything someone with her beliefs and background might say.

  • What a mis-step that the DOJ should have anything to do with any process that involves oversight of their own department. For instance….Carol has information that might incriminate or even convict Bob but we must ask Bob if we can allow Carol to tell us. What crap is that? We caught these asswipes in mid stream of taking control of this country and we better get busy interrupting the plan quickly before it’s too late. We are trying to look backward to see what’s been done while they have always been moving forward toward the end result, oligarchy and a fascist state and it’s almost complete.

  • A top Justice Dept. employee taking the 5th, and then receiving Congressional immunity to testify to the facts. This in and of itself is a defining moment for this Bush WH. All law abiding Americans need to be worried, very worried about this WH lawlessness. -Kevo

  • >The Justice Department will consider the immunity deal and check it against other investigations, and a federal court will have to approve the deal.

    This is from TalkingPointsMemo, and they do no provide a citation. I would like a reference before I rely on this info.

    I’m not sure a federal court has to approve the immunity deal.

  • Turn up the heat and watch the pot begin to boil. With all those incriminating e-mails floating around out there in the cyberspace, Monica would be advised to tell the truth.

  • She’s such a fucking douchenozzle.
    Perhaps she’ll meet an untimely demise during the next few weeks, apparently an “accident”: dead douchenozzles tell no tales.

  • Thanks, Tom Cleaver, at 11. I’ll pass it on to all of my acquaintance. But I wonder how much good it’ll do. There was plenty of alarm “bell tolling” in Stalin’s USSR and in Hitler’s Germany as the clouds were gathering, yet they didn’t prevent anything. I’m far less optimistic than Naomi Wolf is that, ultimately, it cannot happen here.

  • “…Rep. Cannon claimed that the investigation was harming the Justice Department’s ability to conduct business…”

    Oh, I think it’s become abundently clear to everyone paying even a little bit of attention that the thing most harming the Justice Department’s ability to conduct business is one Alberto Gonzalez.

  • Funny how a recent grad of Regent University would say, “Screw ‘In God we trust,’ give me immunity!”

    Josh over at TPM has the audio of Iglesias talking about Goodling being “the keys to the kingdom.” That assertion is based on her being a liaison to the White House and having had contact with — you guessed it — Karl Rove. Somewhere in Karl’s conniving head has to be running around the thought, “where can I find a hitman.”

    Goodling, like any neophyte to the rough politics of D.C., is freaking out. If she stays scared until the hearing, she’ll tell the truth. But before all is said and done, I’d put a clause in that immunity agreement that if she’s caught lying, immunity is off.

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