Monica Goodling

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No Charges for Biased Justice Officials: Mukasey

Former employees have already faced internal consequences, AG says

(Newser) - Michael Mukasey said today the ex-Justice Department employees who discriminated against candidates in hiring for political reasons will not face criminal charges, the New York Times reports. Prosecution would be inappropriate, the AG said, because the biased hiring practices violated federal civil service law, not criminal law.

US Attorney: I Was Fired Over Gay Rumors

Official speaks out after damning report on key Gonzales aides

(Newser) - One of the US attorneys fired in the 2006 sweep by Alberto Gonzales' Justice Department says she believes rumors of a lesbian relationship with a top prosecutor cost her the job and derailed the prosecutor’s career. “I am persuaded with deep regret that this is what was the...

Justice Dept. Hiring Practices Illegal: Report

Gonzales aides judged high-level applicants by their politics

(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales’ Justice Department illegally discriminated against applicants for career positions based on political considerations, a new report by the department's inspector general finds. Gonzales’ White House liaison Monica Goodling routinely violated civil service laws by asking "What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to...

Separation of Powers? Leave Prez's BlackBerry Out of It

Scrutiny on email deprives executive of key communications tool—though not Congress

(Newser) - The 44th president will almost certainly kick off his term by quitting email cold turkey, Jamie Sneider writes in the Weekly Standard. With executive-branch communication subject to public-disclosure law, President Bush hasn't send a single message, the former White House aide says—a coping mechanism that "fails to strike...

Justice Dept. Will Investigate Whether Gonzales Lied

US attorney firings probe will expand

(Newser) - The Justice Department will investigate whether Alberto Gonzales gave misleading testimony to Congress, including whether he lied about the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program and the US attorney firings. Inspector General Glenn Fine has alerted Congress to an expanded internal probe into the actions of the lame-luck AG, the Washington Post ...

Elle Woods, Is That You?
Elle Woods,
Is That You?

Elle Woods, Is That You?

Slate 's legal correspondent is tougher on Dems than they were on Goodling

(Newser) - Monica Goodling cleared a very low bar in her Congressional testimony yesterday, Slate's Dahlia Lithwick argues, and she can thank the Democrats who questioned her for making her look good. The majority members of the House Judiciary Committee, "in expecting to question the Great Exploding Idiot Barbie," Lithwick...

Ex-Justice Aide Points Fingers
Ex-Justice Aide Points Fingers

Ex-Justice Aide Points Fingers

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...

Comey Defends Fired Attorneys
Comey Defends Fired Attorneys

Comey Defends Fired Attorneys

Most were strong performers, former deputy AG tells House panel

(Newser) - Most of the U.S. attorneys axed en masse by the Justice Department last year weren't underperforming, former Deputy Attorney General James Comey told a House panel yesterday. Comey, who left Justice over a year before the firings, said he'd rated the attorneys' performance for Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson...

Gonzales Aide Probed for Political Hiring

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...

Democrats Dole Out Subpoenas
Democrats Dole Out Subpoenas

Democrats Dole Out Subpoenas

Congress gets tough on U.S. attorneys players—and calls Condi in to talk Iraq

(Newser) - The Democratic Congress flexed its oversight muscle today, with both houses dishing out subpoenas all the way up to Condi Rice. A House committee subpoenaed the Secretary of State to discuss the lead-up to the Iraq War, while both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees summoned aides involved in the...

Regent Grads Score Big On Bush Team
Regent Grads Score Big On Bush Team

Regent Grads Score Big On Bush Team

Christian law school has direct route into Justice Department

(Newser) - Regent University, the evangelical college founded by Pat Robertson that  graduated disgraced Gonzales aide Monica Goodling, has quietly become a huge source of like-minded talent for the Bush administration: Despite its marginal academic credentials, 150 Regent University alumni have been placed in federal positions since 2001.

Third Gonzales Aide Resigns
Third Gonzales
Aide Resigns

Third Gonzales Aide Resigns

Monica Goodling resigns after declining to testify on dismissals of U.S. attorneys

(Newser) - Gonzales aide Monica Goodling resigned yesterday, a little more than a week after she plead the fifth rather than testify before a Senate committee about the Justice Department's firing of eight U.S. attorneys, the Times reports. Democrats had hoped Goodling, who was Justice's liaison to  the White House, would...

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