Here's the thing...she said that she was informed that it was perfectly fine to be asking administrative judges questions about their political leanings. She also testified that Kyle Sampson told her there was an opinion which said that political questions were appropriate.
Not so. Here's what the LA Times article says:
She also said she had considered political factors in helping to select immigration judges. She said she thought such action was allowed.
She cited a conversation she had with another Gonzales aide, D. Kyle Sampson, who said the department's Office of Legal Counsel had declared the practice to be lawful.
Justice Department officials said no such opinion existed.
They also denied Goodling's assertion that the hiring of immigration judges had been frozen after the department's civil division raised concerns about using a political litmus test.
"There is no disagreement within the department, including between the civil division and the Office of Legal Counsel, about whether the civil service laws apply to the appointment of immigration judges," said Dean Boyd, a Justice Department spokesman. "They do apply."
Under Goodling's immunity agreement, statements that she made to Congress cannot be used against her. But that does not prohibit the government from filing charges, as long as the evidence comes from other sources.
She also could be prosecuted for perjury if she intentionally made false statements to Congress.
Goodling's Story Not Accurate
So, what we have is a situation where Monica blithefully chirped away...and either consciously misled or inadvertently widened the aperture of observation into utterly incompetent and specious management and hiring practices in the chief law enforcement agency of the federal government. Either way, this is shameful and will have consequences.
UPDATE: davidkc wrote a great diary about Graves' fighting back against Goodling's spurious comments. Here's the link:
davidkc's diary
Update 2Here's a link to another TPM article which discusses many of the things raised in the diary.
More From TPM on Goodling Aftermath
Here's Dowd's response (found on TPMuckraker) regarding the "opinion" that Goodling said that Sampson had told her about.
Today, Department of Justice spokesman Dean Boyd stated that the Department. had "located no record of an Office of Legal Counsel opinion advising that Immigration Judges may be appointed on the basis of political considerations or that civil service laws do not apply to such appointments."
Ms. Goodling is aware of the fact that the Office of Legal Counsel never issued a formal opinion on the matter, and she did not suggest otherwise in her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. Around the time Ms. Goodling became White House liaison in April 2005, Mr. Kyle Sampson told her that Acting Assistant Attorney General Daniel Levin had advised that Immigration Judgeships were not subject to the civil service rules applicable to other career positions. Ms. Goodling testified consistently with these facts before the House Judiciary Committee.
In her written remarks, Ms. Goodling testified:
Around the time I became White House Liaison in April 2005, Mr. Sampson told me that the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) had provided guidance some years earlier indicating that Immigration Judge appointments were not subject to the civil service rules applicable to other career positions.
This testimony is truthful and accurate.
In response to questions from Representative Nadler, Ms. Goodling stated:
I was informed that the Office of Legal Counsel had said that because those were positions under a direct appointment authority of the Attorney General, that we could consider other factors in those cases. Later, concerns were raised as a result of some litigation and the Civil Division came to a different conclusion. As a result of that, we actually froze hiring late in December of last year.
This testimony is truthful and accurate.
In response to questions from Representative Goodlatte, Ms. Goodling stated:
In other cases like immigration judges and Board of Immigration appeals, I thought that we could consider other factors because I had been told that, in relation to immigration judges -- and I think my assumption was that that applied to the BIA as well.
This testimony is truthful and accurate.
Finally, in response to questions from Representative Sherman, Ms. Goodling stated:
If you're asking about other categories like immigration judges or BIA members, originally, I was told that we could, particularly in relation to the immigration judges. And I assumed it applied to BIA positions as well. I was told that those factors could be considered.
This testimony is truthful and accurate.
3rd Update:Over on Raw Story, I see that Schumer thinks that there may be at least 60 votes for the "No Confidence" motion. He said that they haven't done a whip count yet...so this may mean shit to a tree. OTOH, they will be seeing Slozman and Graves on June 7, I think, so maybe they have some fireworks planned before the vote.
Here's the link to the Raw Story account:
Schumer - 60 Votes for "No Confidence" - Possibly
4th UPDATE - Rove Edition:I'm putting this in here in the hopes that someone will start a diary if they see this. It's kinda like a message in a bottle...as this diary gets marooned in the void. I think it's important...In another TPMuckraker article, which discusses an e-mail that surfaced...one that Griffin sent to several people including Rove and Oprison...here's a brief excerpt from the TPM article:
Emails show that White House and Justice Department officials worked together for months to install Griffin, dating back to last summer. Rove's aides in the White House Office of Political Affairs were intimately involved. Up until now, however, there had been no evidence of direct communication between Rove and Griffin about the appointment. But an email contained in documents released earlier this week shows Griffin directly emailing Rove and his deputies in the White House Office of Political Affairs.
Here's the link.
EMail Went To Rove
I hope that whatever soul that reads this starts a diary. I bet that this email was part of the May 22 doc dump that has not yet been really discussed or analyzed. Farewell...I have no more food nor potable water and my writing hand is growing weak. Carry on.
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