A Spork in the Drawer

Being A Loyal Republican Isn't Enough

Meet Leslie Hagan:

Several people interviewed by the inspector general's staff described the case to NPR and said they came away with the impression that the Attorney General's office decided not to renew Leslie Hagen's contract because of the talk about her sexual orientation. Hagen received the highest possible ratings for her work as liaison between the Justice Department and the U.S. attorneys' committee on Native American issues. Her final job evaluation lists five categories for supervisors to rank her performance. For each category, a neat X fills the box marked, "Outstanding." And at the bottom of the page, under "overall rating level," she also got the top mark: Outstanding.

The form is dated February 1, 2007. Several months before that evaluation, Hagen was told her contract would not be renewed

[...]

Sarah Brubaker, a tribal prosecutor in Michigan, said Hagen was "at the very top of any of the prosecutors I've ever worked with." Brubaker said it's very difficult "to find someone of her caliber, who is not only an excellent prosecutor, but also easy to work with — personable, professional."

A former U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, Tom Heffelfinger, recruited Hagen in October 2005 to come to Washington from Michigan, where she won awards for her work as a federal prosecutor.

"I felt at the time she was the best qualified person in the nation to fill that job," says Heffelfinger. "I was never consulted about her performance as liaison to the Native American Issues Committee, and I never heard any criticism of her performance from any other component within the department."

What makes this story truly fun is an appearance by on old friend:

So, what was Goodling's problem with Hagen?

The Justice Department's inspector general is looking into whether Hagen was dismissed after a rumor reached Goodling that Hagen is a lesbian.

As one Republican source put it, "To some people, that's even worse than being a Democrat."

Yes, that would be Monica "Law Degree From Pat Robertson" Goodling.

Speaking of rumors, is it irresponsible to speculate that Our Fair Monica's impending nuptials are a cover for some secret that she finds shameful? It is irresponsible not to.*

See, rumor-mongering can be fun and productive!

*Formulation ©Peggy Noonan

[Via Paul Kiel.]

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Ick

The Pride of Pat Robertson's Regent University Law School, Monica Goodling, is getting hitched to rightwing blogmeister Mike Krempasky*.

May they have many Aryan babies.

[Via watertiger.]

*If you've never visited Red State you're a much happier person.

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Monica Has A Problem

Whoops:

New Justice Department communications released tonight include an email from Monica Goodling, former counsel to Alberto Gonzales, directing another official to draw up a directive giving her unprecedented authority to hire and fire political staffers. Goodling tells the official, assistant attorney general Paul Corts, to “send [it] directly up to me, outside the system.”

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Deaf And Blind

Eugene Robinson:

Everyone else who was listening Wednesday had to be flabbergasted as Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee -- apparently having been struck deaf and blind -- lobbed softball after softball at witness Monica Goodling. This was after Goodling had already 'fessed up to applying a political litmus test for career Justice employees. I repeat: career employees, not political appointees. Only loyal Republicans should bother to apply.

The deaf and blind Republicans on the committee apparently missed that part of her opening statement. They also missed the part when she accused Gonzales's former deputy, Paul McNulty, of telling untruths to Congress -- and, in the process, hanging Goodling out to dry. Those dogged GOP interrogators did, however, manage to elicit from Goodling the startling disclosure that she believes she is a good person and also the revelation that while she might have broken a few laws, she didn't set out to do anything illegal.

[...]

Did all this fly over the heads of the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee? Of course not. But House Republicans evidently have made the cynical political calculation that to acknowledge reality would be to grant the Democrats some sort of victory. This, apparently, must be avoided at all costs.

Of course the they're cynical; the only thing the modern Republican Party cares about is power. Authoritarians to the core, they subscribe whole-heartedly to a strange code:

The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." ... "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."

Normal people call this "delusional."

Whether cynical or delusional, or both, the failure to recognize reality (real reality) alone should disqualify the Republican Party (in it's current form) from holding any position of power. Sane Republicans (if such an animal still exists) should either reform their party or quit and create a new conservative party.

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Things That Make You Say "Hmmm"

Browsing through everbody's favorite crazy zillionaire-financed newspaper, the Daily Scaife, I started to feel that something was missing. Then it hit me: Not one story about Young Miss Goodling's testimony. I went so far as to use the search function. Entering "Goodling" came up with a Howard Meyerson column but no news stories. Entering "Monica"? Bupkus. Yet the latest winner of "American Idol" is right at the top of the front page under "Breaking News."

The paper has managed to disappear Goodling entirely. Remarkable.

But that's our Dickie!

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Monica Madness! V

Monica just fingered Abu and the Repubs are trying to shut the hearing down!

What fun!

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Monica Madness! IV - Separated At Birth Edition

Ana Marie.

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Monica Madness! III

At least we're now going to have other photos:



(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

It's a shame Monica has such a poor memory.

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Monica Madness! II

From Tim Grieve:

"All I ever wanted to do was serve this president and this administration and this department." -- Regent University Law School graduate and Justice Department White House liaison Monica Goodling in a teary conversation with Associate Attorney General David Margolis on March 8, 2007.

Something's missing there. I can't quite put my finger on it...oh, yeah, how about "serve my country"? Then again, since that's antithetical to serving the GOP I can understand why Monica left that out.

In an interview released by the House Judiciary Committee yesterday in advance of Goodling's immunized testimony today, Margolis says Goodling came to his office on the evening of March 8 -- about a month before she resigned from the Justice Department -- and asked if Kyle Sampson had talked with him. When Margolis said yes, Goodling proceeded to "bawl her eyes out." How long did the crying last? "It seemed like forever," Margolis says, "but it was probably only 30 or 45 minutes."

Here's hoping Monica can keep it together during her testimony today.

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Iglesias

Purged US Attorney David Iglesias writes:

WHAT HAPPENS in a presidential administration when loyalty, to borrow a phrase from "Star Trek," becomes the "prime directive"? What happens when its all-encompassing fog obscures all other values — such as fealty to the Constitution, the rule of law or simple humanity?

What happens is that terrible decisions are made, repeated and then justified by this shibboleth. That's just one of the lessons that has emerged from the U.S. attorney scandal.

[...]

What has become clear already is that the "loyalty uber alles" mentality has infected a wide swath of the Bush administration. Simple notions like right and wrong are, in their eyes, matters of allegiance, not conscience.

[...]

All federal prosecutors take a public oath when they assume office. I personally swore in about 30 new federal prosecutors during my tenure as U.S. attorney for New Mexico. The oath is to the U.S. Constitution, not to the president or his Cabinet.

Somehow Goodling did not understand this keystone concept. She appears to have placed her loyalty to the Bush administration and the Republican Party above any allegiance to the Constitution — which may have led her to believe that Bush acolytes would make the best federal prosecutors. Paradoxically, she knew enough of the Constitution to claim the protections afforded by the 5th Amendment—the right against self-incrimination.

[...]

Will [Gonzales] "cowboy up," as we say in New Mexico — that is, find the courage to do the right thing? Or will he make the Senate go right up to the precipice of a no-confidence vote?

Abu? Doing the right thing? If the right thing is to protect and cater to George regardless of the cost (to the Constitution, among other minor things) then, yes.

Otherwise, no.

And when are we going to hear coherent excuses from Sen. Pete Dominici and Rep. "Halliburton Heather" Wilson about their participation?

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Monica Madness!

Today's the day.

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How Many More Shoes To Drop?

26:

The Justice Department considered dismissing many more U.S. attorneys than officials have previously acknowledged, with at least 26 prosecutors suggested for termination between February 2005 and December 2006, according to sources familiar with documents withheld from the public.

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales testified last week that the effort was limited to eight U.S. attorneys fired since last June, and other administration officials have said that only a few others were suggested for removal.

[...]

One memo sent to Sampson last November from Michael J. Elston, chief of staff to the deputy attorney general, suggested firing Mary Beth Buchanan, the U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh, who supervised the nation's prosecutors for a year and now heads the Office on Violence Against Women, sources said.

[...]

Another prosecutor, Anna Mills Wagoner of Greensboro, N.C., is included on three lists. Documents show that Monica M. Goodling, a Gonzales aide set to testify next week in Congress, removed her from consideration because of her work prosecuting gun crimes.

So more evidence of perjury by Abu. And Monica, a dim twinkie from a fourth-rate law school, wanted to fire a USA for actually, y'know, prosecuting crimes.

I don't think we've yet seen the true dimensions of the crowd's corruption and moral depravity.

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The Big Question

One that perhaps will be answered soon: Why was this twit given such power?

“You have a Monica problem,” Ms. Ashton was told, according to several Justice Department officials. Referring to Monica M. Goodling, a 31-year-old, relatively inexperienced lawyer who had only recently arrived in the office, the boss added, “She believes you’re a Democrat and doesn’t feel you can be trusted.”

Ms. Ashton’s ouster — she left the Executive Office for United States Attorneys for another Justice Department post two weeks later — was a critical early step in a plan that would later culminate in the ouster of nine United States attorneys last year.

It appears that Monica's true calling is that of a music critic:

She joined the department in the press office. Soon after, two lawyers said, Ms. Goodling complained that staff members in Puerto Rico had used rap music in a public service announcement intended to discourage gun crime.

“That is just outrageous,” she told one department lawyer. “How could they use government money for an ad that featured rap music? That kind of music glorifies violence.”

No doubt, when Monica wants to get funky she listens to Percy Faith.

Then again, Monica could offer herself up as an expert in race relations:

In one case, Ms. Goodling told a federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia that she was not signing off on an applicant who had graduated from Howard University Law School, and then worked at the Environmental Protection Agency. [Link added.]

“He appeared, based on his résumé, to be a liberal Democrat,” Ms. Goodling told Jeffrey A. Taylor, the acting United States attorney in Washington, according to two of the department employees who asked not to be named. “That wasn’t what she was looking for.”

Monica the historian:

“Which Supreme Court justice do you most admire and why? Which legislator do you most admire and why? And which president do you most admire and why?” Mr. Nicholson was asked by Ms. Goodling, according to Ms. Chiara and the other lawyer, who asked not to be named.

Correct answers: Antonin Scalia, Joseph McCarthy, and George W. Bush.

Monica the Grand Inquisitor:

In another instance, two Justice Department officials said, Ms. Goodling decided she did not like the applicants for one prestigious posting at department headquarters and decided to offer the job to David C. Woll Jr., a young lawyer who she knew was a Republican. In the interview, a department official said, she asked Mr. Woll if he had ever cheated on his wife. Mr. Woll declined to comment for this article.

Even John Mitchell would have been embarrassed by this dope.

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Compare And Contrast

res ipsa loquitur with A Tale of Two Monicas.

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Monica To Sing

Might be fun:

Lawyers for Monica Goodling, who had served as the Justice Department's liaison to the White House, said she would appear before the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee.

[...]

A hearing date was not immediately set.

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Monica!

The Muck From the National Journal (not online):

Psst! Sources tell us that none other than Monica Goodling, former aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, was responsible for draping over the ample bosoms of the Art Deco statues in the Justice Department's Great Hall during the reign of the prim John Ashcroft. The coverings were removed, accompanied by a sigh from an appreciative public, in 2005 ...

That scamp!

The offending statue:

(Just to be clear: The offending statue is the one in the background.)

In more Monica news, the DoJ isn't going to stand in the way of Goodling getting immunity.

I smell a rat.

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Yawn

We're supposed to be impressed?

The Justice Department has launched an internal investigation into whether Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales's former White House liaison illegally took party affiliation into account in hiring career federal prosecutors, officials said yesterday.

The allegations against Monica M. Goodling represent a potential violation of federal law and signal that a joint probe begun in March by the department's inspector general and Office of Professional Responsibility has expanded beyond the controversial dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys last year.

Another internal investigation. As virtually nobody thinks the DoJ has any credibility why even bother?

The investigation of Goodling complicates efforts by the House Judiciary Committee to offer her immunity in exchange for testimony. Goodling quit as Gonzales's senior counselor last month and has invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to answer questions from Congress about the prosecutor firings.

Goodling's attorney, John M. Dowd, said yesterday that Goodling would agree to testify under such a deal. But the Justice Department must approve the immunity and certify that the move would not interfere with current or possible criminal prosecutions.

Ah, that explains it: Stonewalling. That's what I expect from this crew.

Can we impeach to lot of them now?

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Monica!

The pride of Pat Robertson is granted immunity.

However:

It is likely to be weeks before the committee actually gets to interview Goodling. That's because the law requires that the Justice Department be allowed an opportunity to provide its views on immunity -- i.e. whether it might interfere with an existing or possible investigation. If the DoJ objects to giving Goodling immunity, then the committee would be forced to consider whether to defer or delay conferring immunity. And regardless of what the DoJ says, the local federal court has to approve giving Goodling immunity. All this is likely to take several weeks.

Would the DoJ be so obstructionist as to object?

Of course.

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Goodling...

...to be granted immunity.

What fun!

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Scrubbed

As has been noted Monica Goodling and around 150 other graduates of Pat Robertson's laughable Regent University Law School* are seeded throughout the BushCheney administration.

Today, Steve Benen brings us some news:

According to Google cache, as recently as April 12, Regent’s “facts” page included seven bullets noting graduates in various political positions, with the seventh noting, in all bold letters, “150 graduates serving in the Bush Administration.” As of yesterday, the same page is identical, except the seventh bullet has been deleted. Regent stopped bragging about staffing the administration almost immediately after someone from the secular media noticed.

I’m open to suggestion, but it seems to me there are two possibilities: either Regent is suddenly embarrassed to be associated so closely with the Bush administration, or the administration is suddenly embarrassed to be associated so closely with Regent. Did Karl Rove put in a call to his old friend Pat Robertson and ask him to change the website? Or did Regent realize that the Bush gang is too scandalous for even Robertson’s school?

Somebody is ashamed of somebody else, that's for sure.

*Sentence corrected. The correct figure is for all of Regent. Thanks to racymind for the catch.

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Exposed

More on on the purge:

Sampson's attorney and a Justice spokesman said yesterday that the candidates listed were only tentative suggestions and were never seriously considered. Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the list "reflects Kyle Sampson's initial thoughts" and "in no way contradicts the department's prior statements" about the lack of a candidate list.

Sampson told the Senate Judiciary Committee last month that on Dec. 7, when seven U.S. attorneys were sacked, "I did not have in mind any replacements for any of the seven who were asked to resign."

Uh-huh. Sure.

Sampson, who resigned as Gonzales's top aide last month, said in prepared Senate testimony last month that "none of the U.S. attorneys was asked to resign in favor of a particular individual who had already been identified to take the vacant spot," except for the prosecutor in Little Rock.

We're fast approaching a "This is the operative statement. The others are inoperative." moment.

Meanwhile, in New Mexico:

One document also raises new questions about the firing of prosecutor David C. Iglesias in New Mexico, who has testified that he felt pressured by Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) and Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.) to speed up indictments of Democrats before last November's elections.

Two pages of handwritten notes by Monica M. Goodling, until recently Gonzales's senior counselor, include this criticism of Iglesias: "Domenici says he doesn't move cases." The notes are undated but appear amid a set of documents relating to meetings in February of this year.

With any luck Domenici and Halliburton Heather will be returning to the Land of Enchantment soon. With even more luck they'll be sent to a Federal penitentiary.

Also released yesterday was a chart given to Gonzales in February that noted U.S. attorneys' political backgrounds and whether they were members of the Federalist Society, a coalition of conservative lawyers and legal scholars with close ties to the Bush administration. It is not clear when the chart was compiled, nor is it clear whether the Federalist Society information is accurate.

Another document, compiling internal Justice Department "talking points" about the fired prosecutors, disparages two U.S. attorneys -- in identical language -- about immigration enforcement.

This Tuesday - Abu Gonzo Day - ought to be quite fun.

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Mendacious Idiot

Because even I have my limits on dealing with stupid people I'll leave it to watertiger to deal with the wankerific Richard Cohen.

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Goodling Gone

Make her testify anyway.

But no worries; someone just as slavish will no doubt be appointed to replace her.

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Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Can Monica Goodling take the Fifth? Christy and Steven D think not.

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