WASHINGTON - The Justice Department’s former White House liaison denied Wednesday that she played a major role in the firings of U.S. attorneys last year and blamed Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty for misleading Congress.
McNulty’s explanation about the dismissals, on Feb. 6, “was incomplete or inaccurate in a number of respects,” Monica Goodling told a packed House Judiciary Committee inquiry into the firings.
She added: “I believe the deputy was not fully candid.”
McNulty and other Justice officials had no immediate comment.
Goodling, 33, quit the department last month and initially pleaded the Fifth Amendment on Wednesday. After being granted court-approved immunity, she admitted that in some instances she may have weighed the political views and affiliations of job applicants for jobs as career prosecutors — a violation of federal law.
“I may have gone too far, and I may have taken inappropriate political considerations into account on some occasions,” Goodling said. “And I regret those mistakes.”
Justice Department documents show Goodling attended numerous meetings over a year’s time about the plans to fire the U.S. attorneys and corresponded with the White House and at least one of the ousted prosecutors before the dismissals were ordered.
We've got lots of blog coverage on Monica here--check out the links to Carpetbagger Report, Firedog Lake Part One Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four, Daily Kos, and TPM Muckraker. C-span is also covering the hearings.
But one important aspect of MonicaNews is the picture of Monica. We can go from this photo of Monica:
Monica Before....To this photo of Monica:
Monica After....Monica Goodling, a former Justice Department official, denied today that she played a major role in the firings. Doug Mills/The New York TimesAnd as for the mainstream media, well you can check the New York Times, Washington Post, and McClatchy News coverage here.
All Monica, all the time.
No comments:
Post a Comment