Must Read Greg Palest Post

Greg Palest has a must-read post on a voter the suppression tactic caging. Monica Goodling dropped the bombshell in her opening statements.

Despite my and others' best efforts, [Deputy Attorney General, Paul McNulty]'s public testimony was incomplete or inaccurate in a number of respects. As explained in more detail in my written remarks, I believe that the Deputy was not fully candid about his knowledge of White House involvement in the replacement decision, failed to disclose that he had some knowledge of the White House's interest in selecting Tim Griffin as Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, inaccurately described the Department's internal assessment of the Parsky Commission, and failed to disclose that he had some knowledge of allegations that Tim Griffin had been involved in vote "caging" during his work on the President's 2004 campaign.

Caging is sending emails targeted to people not likely to respond. If no reply is returned they are then taken off the voter rolls. This is completely illegal. Not a single Democrat pressed to find out Griffin's involvement or his former boss Karl Rove. Dahlia Lithwick runs through a list of other questions the Democrats fumbled on.

Below is a caging email Griffith was involved in to purge homeless people off voting rolls.

Monica Goodling Receives Immunity

It will be interesting just how damaging Monica Goodling's testimony will be.

Lawmakers want to question Goodling as part of an inquiry into whether the Justice Department played politics with the hiring and firing of department officials. What began as an inquiry into whether U.S. attorneys were fired for political reasons has grown to include the role of the White House in the firings and whether the Justice Department officials misled Congress about them.

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Goodling's lawyer has said that, with an immunity seal, she would cooperate and testify honestly.

The cat is out of the bag about how the Justice Department handled the firings. What Goodling will be asked about is the role of Karl Rove and his staff.

Monica Goodling Update

Monica Goodling is a graduate of Regent University. The school was founded by Pat Robertson. The school has close ties to the Bush administration. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft serves as a "Distinguished Professor of Law and Government." 150 graduates of Regent University currently serve in the current administration.

The Washington Post has a profile of Goodling.

Part of a generation of young religious conservatives who swept into the federal government after the election of President Bush in 2000, Goodling displayed unblinking devotion to the administration and expected others to do the same. When she started at Justice, "no job was too small for her," and as she moved rapidly up the ranks, none "was too large," Corallo said.

"She was the embodiment of a hardworking young conservative who believed strongly in the president and his mission," said David Ayres, former chief of staff to Bush's first attorney general, John D. Ashcroft.

This week, Goodling, 33, became the most prominent federal official to invoke the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying before Congress since Lt. Col. Oliver L. North refused to answer questions -- until he received immunity -- during the 1986 Iran-contra hearings.

Goodling, now on an indefinite leave, most recently served as senior counsel to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and as Justice's liaison to the White House. Her name appears on several e-mails about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are eager to ask her about those dismissals.

It is unheard of for a Justice Department official to refuse to testify to Congress. In fact, it is against their guide lines. The only reason Goodling is still on pay roll is because she is a loyal Bushie.

Goodling's lawyer John Dowd is using the Lewis "Scooter" Libby conviction as the reason Goodling took the fifth. I'm sure Dowd is not trying to suggest his client was involved in political payback to hurt someone's career. That is what both Libby and Goodling have that in common.

Monica Goodling Takes Fifth

Alberto Gonzales senior council Monica Goodling will not testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She is invoking the fifth amendment.

"I have decided to follow my lawyer's advice and respectfully invoke my constitutional right, because the above-described circumstances present a perilous environment in which to testify," Goodling says.

Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) called the Attorney General's office, for the third time, to complain about U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. Kyle Sampson, William Moschella and Monica Goodling talked with Domenici about Iglesias.

Goodling has enlisted the legal services of John M. Dowd and Jeffery M. King of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. King has defended clients using the fifth amendment defense. They issued a press release.

We represent Ms. Monica Goodling, Council to the Attorney General and White House Liaison. We were advised today by council to the Committee on the Judiciary that the Committee seeks Ms. Goodling's testimony with respect to the Committee's inquiry into the firings of United States Attorneys.

Please be advised that Ms. Goodling will, opon our advise, assert her fifth amendment privilege as to any and all questions related to that subject matter...

Patrick Leahy responds to Goodling taking the fifth.

“It is disappointing that Ms. Goodling has decided to withhold her important testimony from the Committee as it pursues its investigation into this matter, but everybody has the constitutional right not to incriminate themselves with regard to criminal conduct.

“The American people are left to wonder what conduct is at the base of Ms. Goodling’s concern that she may incriminate herself in connection with criminal charges if she appears before the Committee under oath.“

The administration is blaming Goodling for not properly informing Gonzales of the U.S. Attorney purge. The latest document dump proves Gonzales was aware of the firings.

The hour-long November meeting in the attorney general's conference room included Gonzales, Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty and four other senior Justice officials, including the Gonzales aide who coordinated the firings, then-Chief of Staff D. Kyle Sampson, records show.

Documents detailing the previously undisclosed meeting appear to conflict with remarks by Gonzales at a March 13 news conference in which he portrayed himself as a CEO who had delegated to Sampson responsibility for the particulars of firing eight U.S. attorneys.

The White House would have been better just releasing all the document in the beginning and getting the story off the front page. Instead they gave the finger to Congress and chose to get caught putting false statements in the media. Wiretapping and Abu Ghraib were far more serious offenses. The White House decided to fight Congress over U.S. Attorneys that the President has the right to fire at any time. The purging reeks of corruption and intimidating U.S. Attorneys to take cases for partisan reasons. This was still a story they could have gotten off the front page if their political instincts weren't Nixonian.