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View Full Version : Gonzalez' top aide Monica Goodling lawyers up, resigns


Richard Tafoya
Apr 6th, 2007, 03:15 PM
CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/blogs/politicalticker/

Justice Department official Monica Goodling, who had raised controversy by invoking the 5th Amendment in her refusal to testify before Congress, resigned her job as counselor to the attorney general late Friday.

In a brief letter to Alberto Gonzales, Goodling gave no reason for her resignation but said it was effective April 7th.

"I am hereby submit my resignation to the Office of the Attorney General, effective April 7, 2007. It has been an honor to have served at the Department of Justice for the past five years," Goodling said.

"May God bless you richly as you continue your service to America," she concluded.

The resignation came suddenly just as the Justice Department was closing for the Easter weekend, and with no warning.

Hours earlier, officials said she continued in her status of being paid while on regular leave.

US News:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/blogs/news_blog/070405/goodling_hires_lawyer_who_brou_1.htm
Monica Goodling, the Department of Justice liaison with the White House now caught up in the U.S. attorneys firing feud, has invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to appear before Congress.

Her lawyer, John Dowd, whose biography reflects a longtime career as an attorney for high-profile government-employee clients, has recently fired off two letters to the Democratic House and Senate Judiciary Committee chairmen in which he lectured them on constitutional rights.

pinky
Apr 6th, 2007, 09:32 PM
Some background on Goodling:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/29/AR2007032901964.html

LesterX
Apr 6th, 2007, 10:10 PM
Can someone explain to me why this woman was qualified to be a top aide to Gonzales? I guess attending law school at Pat Robertson's university is good enough to shoot straight to the top in the Bush administration.

The LA Times profiled Kyle Sampson last week, and he was equally short on credentials. A bunch of brown nosing little loyalists with no discernable qualifications are in positions of power all over the Bush administration. It's frightening.

Richard Tafoya
Apr 6th, 2007, 10:19 PM
Surely you can't be referring to things like this...

Boston Globe:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/07/23/civil_rights_hiring_shifted_in_bush_era/

The Bush administration is quietly remaking the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, filling the permanent ranks with lawyers who have strong conservative credentials but little experience in civil rights, according to job application materials obtained by the Globe.

...

Hires with traditional civil rights backgrounds -- either civil rights litigators or members of civil rights groups -- have plunged. Only 19 of the 45 lawyers hired since 2003 in those three sections were experienced in civil rights law, and of those, nine gained their experience either by defending employers against discrimination lawsuits or by fighting against race-conscious policies.

Meanwhile, conservative credentials have risen sharply. Since 2003 the three sections have hired 11 lawyers who said they were members of the conservative Federalist Society. Seven hires in the three sections are listed as members of the Republican National Lawyers Association, including two who volunteered for Bush-Cheney campaigns.

...

At the same time, the kinds of cases the Civil Rights Division is bringing have undergone a shift. The division is bringing fewer voting rights and employment cases involving systematic discrimination against African-Americans, and more alleging reverse discrimination against whites and religious discrimination against Christians.

pinky
Apr 6th, 2007, 10:36 PM
I don't have a source for this, but I read an article the other day that mentioned that Goodling had only tried a couple of minor cases while working at the US Attorney's office in Virginia.

She is merely another in the long list of people in this administration with absolutely no qualifications for her position beyond being a loyal koolaid drinker.

LesterX
Apr 6th, 2007, 11:11 PM
^ If she tried a couple of cases, that's more than Sampson. He's tried one.

DoubleEdgeSword
Apr 7th, 2007, 04:17 AM
Surely you can't be referring to things like this...

Boston Globe:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/07/23/civil_rights_hiring_shifted_in_bush_era/

I heard a piece about this on NPR the other day. Seems like these conservative law students are being recruited. During the last year of law school, the student "applies" to the governmental department within the Justice Department they are interested in serving. These consevative law students have been surprised when contacted by the Civil Rights Division. None of them expressed interest in the department, yet several have been hired over those who have specifically applied for that department.