Gonzales Fingers Lame-Duck Aide

No-confidence vote on the table; US attorney hit list keeps growing

(NEWSER) - Alberto Gonzales will face a non-binding motion of no confidence in the Senate as soon as next week, intensifying pressure on the AG to resign. The Washington Post reports today that the list of US attorneys his office considered for dismissal—which Gonzales has testified included just eight names—now numbers 30. More»

Defense teams charge political motivation in broad array of cases

(NEWSER) - Months after the scandal over eight US Attorney firings first hit, the accusation of politically motivated justice has reached federal courtrooms around the country. Defense attorneys are invoking the controversy to call indictments into question in cases from bank fraud to child pornography, the LA Times reports. More»

Deputy AG was 'not fully candid,' Goodling tells House committee

(NEWSER) - The deputy attorney general dissembled in his Senate testimony about the US attorney firings, Monica Goodling told a House committee today. Testifying under limited immunity from prosecution, the AG's former White House liaison said Paul McNulty's account was "incomplete or inaccurate" and accused him of "downplaying" the White House's role in the firings. More»

(NEWSER) - Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty will quit the Justice Department after admitting he misled a Senate committee in its investigation into nine fired US attorneys. Three other top Justice officials have resigned in recent weeks, but McNulty, AG Alberto Gonzales' second-in-command and himself a former US attorney, is the highest-ranking casualty of the scandal to date. More»

Goodling accused of screening prosecutors for party affiliation

(NEWSER) - The Justice Department is investigating whether Monoica Goodling, the former aide to Alberto Gonzales recently given immunitiy to testify before Congress, illegally used party loyalty as a criteria in hiring federal prosecutors. Goodling's position involved reviewing applications for prosecutors; it's a violation of federal law to consider political affiliation in hiring for nonpolitical jobs. More»