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Former Justice Department's Goodling's testimony raises more questions

By James W. Brosnan
Thursday, May 24, 2007

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WASHINGTON — Fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias of New Mexico had hoped Monica Goodling held the "keys to the kingdom," that the former Justice Department official would detail the interplay between the department, the White House and New Mexico Republicans on why he was fired.

Instead, Goodling, the Justice Department's White House liaison, opened her testimony Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee by declaring she didn't hold the "keys to the kingdom," and her subsequent six hours of testimony only raised more questions for her former superiors, White House officials and New Mexico's senior senator, Albuquerque Republican Pete Domenici.

Goodling testified she did not know who put Iglesias on the list of U.S. attorneys fired Dec. 7. But she did reveal that Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty covered up Domenici's involvement in a private briefing McNulty had with the Senate Judiciary Committee in January and in a public hearing Feb. 6.

"He thought the senator would prefer to address those concerns privately with his colleagues, and he wanted to give him (Domenici) the opportunity to do that," Goodling said.

At one staff meeting prior to the briefings, one official - she could not remember who - suggested to McNulty that somebody should call Domenici's chief of staff, Steve Bell, "and see if he wanted to address the concerns with his colleagues before the briefing took place."

Goodling did not say whether the call to Bell was made.

Domenici press aide Chris Gallegos said Wednesday his office would not comment on Goodling's testimony, which has been standard practice since a Senate ethics committee investigation was announced to look into Domenici's pre-Election Day call to Iglesias pressing for information about the corruption investigation involving former Democratic state Sen. Manny Aragon.

McNulty had told the senators that Iglesias and the other U.S. attorneys were fired for poor performance, prompting Iglesias to reveal the phone calls from Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, also a Albuquerque Republican, and leading to the subsequent admissions by Domenici that he had pressed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and McNulty to fire Iglesias.

During one meeting, Goodling said she wrote down that "Domenici says he doesn't move cases," presumably referring to Iglesias. She said she didn't remember who made the comment.

Committee member Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat, asked if that "referred to the Aragon investigation." Goodling said she only knew about the Aragon case from press reports.

"Certainly, I knew that Senator Domenici had concerns with public corruption cases," said Goodling.

McNulty, who has announced he will leave the department this summer, has blamed Goodling for not preparing him for the briefing, but Goodling told the committee that it was McNulty who "was not fully candid" with Congress.

McNulty said in a statement Wednesday that he testified truthfully Feb. 6.

"Ms. Goodling's characterization of my testimony is wrong and not supported by the extensive record of documents and testimony already provided to Congress," he said.

Iglesias told The Tribune late Wednesday that Goodling's testimony was "a mixed bag."

"I was hoping for facts as to how our names got on the list. It seemed as if our names got on magically," Iglesias said after watching her testimony. "Why isn't anyone taking responsibility for placing our names on the list?"

Iglesias said he had wanted to give McNulty the benefit of the doubt, but that now it appears he was "appropriately briefed." Iglesias said he wasn't surprised that McNulty did not want to discuss Domenici's complaints with other senators because they would have known it was improper for a senator to interfere with an ongoing investigation.

Far from being the linchpin of a conspiracy, Goodling depicted herself as a minor player who never directly discussed the firings with White House political director Karl Rove and had limited input into the deliberations.

Goodling said most of her duties involved interviewing job applicants and arranging "morale-boosting" events for Justice Department political appointees, like attending White House events.

She did admit she improperly asked political questions of applicants for civil service jobs and assistant U.S. attorneys, including possibly asking some applicants for immigration judges for whom they voted.

Asked if she broke the law, Goodling responded, "I believe I crossed the line, but I didn't mean to."

Goodling testified under a grant of immunity after she initially refused to testify, citing her constitutional protection against self-incrimination.

Goodling, 34, was a 1999 graduate of Regent University Law School in Virginia, a school founded by the Rev. Pat Robertson with the stated mission of providing education from a biblical perspective "for aspiring servant-leaders in pivotal professions."

While Democratic members pressed Goodling for answers, Republican House members, in contrast to Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, mostly mocked the results of the firings investigation.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, said the probe had cost taxpayers $250,000 without finding that any of the eight U.S. attorneys were fired improperly.

Rep. Dan Lungren, a California Republican, noted the absence of "clicking" from the dozens of still cameras in the committee hearing room and told Goodling they were waiting "for `gotcha' moments and there haven't been any."

But he struck out when he asked Goodling if she was aware of any complaints from New Mexico prosecutors or sheriffs about a lack of assistance from Iglesias and his office.

"I don't remember hearing anything like that," Goodling said.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, said the committee now needs to try to obtain testimony from McNulty and Rove. White House officials have refused to make Rove or any of their other officials available as witnesses.

After the hearing, New Mexico Democratic Party Chairman Brian Colon released a letter to Domenici asking that he and Bell detail all their contacts with Justice officials and Rove.

"This scandal has quickly spun into an indictment of the entire Department of Justice and its ability to fairly administer the nation's laws, and you stand squarely in the middle of the vortex. There is no longer any doubt that you were singularly responsible for Mr. Iglesias' firing - the only thing still in question is the manner in which you secured that firing and whether you crossed any ethical or legal lines in the process," Colon wrote.