Goodling Admits Hiring Based on Politics
Posted in H.L. News, Main Blog (All Posts) on May 24th, 2007 6:00 am by HL
Goodling Says She ‘Crossed the Line’
MSNBC
Excerpt
A former senior aide to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales leveled serious new accusations against him and his deputy yesterday, describing an “uncomfortable” attempt by Gonzales to discuss the firings of U.S. attorneys as Congress and the Justice Department were intensifying their investigations of the issue.
Monica M. Goodling, who resigned last month as Gonzales’s senior counselor and White House liaison, also told the House Judiciary Committee yesterday that she “crossed the line” by using political criteria in hiring a wide array of career professionals at Justice, including looking up political donations by some applicants.
“I do acknowledge that I may have gone too far in asking political questions of applicants for career positions,” Monica Goodling testified.
In a day-long hearing that afforded her immunity from prosecution, Goodling minimized her role in the controversial firings of nine U.S. attorneys last year and joined a long line of Justice officials who say they were not responsible for adding names to the lists of those to be dismissed.
