Senior Gonzales Aide and White House Liaison to Take the Fifth

March 26, 2007 — -- The White House liaison to the Justice Department and counselor to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has told Congress that she will take the Fifth amendment if and when she is called to testify before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees in the investigation of eight fired U.S. attorneys. In the growing controversy, lawyers for Monica Goodling sent a letter to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., which noted, "Ms. Goodling will, upon our advice, assert her Fifth Amendment privilege as to any and all questions regarding the firings of U.S. attorneys, and any other questions related to the subject matter."

More than 3,000 pages of documents released by the Justice Department in the past week have showed that Goodling was a central figure with intimate knowledge of the plan to replace the U.S. attorneys. Goodling was among high-level Justice Department officials at a Nov. 27, 2006, meeting with Gonzales during which a plan to replace the U.S. attorneys was discussed. According to Justice Department officials, Goodling took personal leave last week, but she is still employed by the Justice Department. In a declaration sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Goodling noted, "I am presently employed by the Department of Justice as Counsel to the Attorney General and White House Liaison."

In a statement, Leahy said, "It is disappointing that Ms. Goodling has decided to withhold her important testimony."

In her statement, Goodling, added, "I have also become aware that a senior Department of Justice official has privately told Senator Schumer, who is a member of the Judiciary Committee, that he [the official] was not entirely candid in his report to the Committee, and that the official allegedly claimed that others at the Department of Justice, including me, did not inform him of certain pertinent facts prior to his testimony."

The decision by Goodling comes at a tough time for an embattled Gonzales, who had pledged to work with Congress. "I work for the American people. I serve at the pleasure of the president of the United States. I will say that in doing my job, it is easier to have the confidence of members of the Congress. And I will continue to do the very best that I can to maintain that confidence," Gonzales said March 13.