The New Monica: More Style than Substance

Monica Goodling was up on Capitol Hill today, and she was much more effective in introducing some more smoke into the issue of the fired U.S. attorneys than she was in bringing any actual fire. As for her intention to take the fifth, once her immunity from prosecution over this testimony was clarified, she owned up to illegally hiring attorneys based on political considerations such as their party affiliation, their political philosophy, and their all-around loyal Bushiness. But she didn't mean to, honest!

She also added no clarification for how the names of the various fired U.S. attorneys got onto the list of who was going to be fired, but maybe Kyle Sampson might know. One thing that was interesting, though, was Goodling's description of what sounds like a very awkward attempt by Alberto Gonzales to influence her testimony. A weeks or so before the left the Justice Department, he fell back on the tried-and-true method of just explaining how he remembered events to make sure he was "remembering correctly." Goodling told the committee that the discussion made her "uncomfortable." I guess even at Pat Robertson's Regent Law School they teach that witness tampering is illegal. So when is Gonzales due back up on the Hill? All of a sudden I've got a feeling one or more committee members might have a fruitful new line of questioning for him.