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Goodling, M

monica goodling fired demo AG, regent law school (150 b2) also patrick henry loudoun cty Va wreck crew

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20. Monica Goodling — Goodling was the most notorious graduate of Pat Robertson’s Regent University during her tenure in the Justice Department. As the White House liaison at the DOJ, she based the department’s hiring of candidates on their sexual preference, GOP loyalty, and adherence to conservative ideology.

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Monica Marie Goodling (born August 6, 1973) is a former United States government lawyer and Republican[1] political appointee in the George W. Bush administration who is best known for her role in the controversy about possible politically motivated firings of several United States Attorneys in 2007. She was the principal deputy director of public affairs for the United States Department of Justice, serving under Attorneys General John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales. A Department of Justice investigation concluded that she had violated the law, but she was not prosecuted because she had been granted immunity in exchange for her testimony. The Virginia State Bar publicly reprimanded Goodling in May 2011 for having "improperly utilized political affiliation and other political considerations when making hiring decisions for career positions."[2]

Contents

Education

Goodling is a 1991 graduate of Northeastern High School in Manchester, Pennsylvania, and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1995 from Messiah College. After completing her bachelor's degree, Goodling continued her education at American University.[3] Deeply religious and politically conservative, she then transferred to Pat Robertson's Regent University School of Law, where she received her Juris Doctor degree in 1999. [4]

Political and legal career

Goodling worked with Tim Griffin as an opposition researcher for the Republican National Committee during the 2000 presidential campaign. She joined the Department of Justice's press office after George W. Bush became president. She moved to the department's executive office, which is responsible for budgeting, management, personnel management and evaluation, later becoming deputy director of the executive office.[5] Goodling was hired by U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan to work in the executive office.[6]

Less than a year later, Goodling moved again, to the Attorney General’s office, working as the White House liaison.[5] According to David Ayres, senior chief of staff to Attorney General John Ashcroft, "She was the embodiment of a hardworking young conservative who believed strongly in the president and his mission".[7] According to Bud Cummins, one of the fired prosecutors and an Arkansas Republican, "She was inexperienced, way too naïve and a little overzealous".[5]

After moving to the Attorney General's office, she retained some authority over personnel matters. Goodling's authority over hiring expanded significantly in March 2006, when Gonzales signed an unpublished order delegating to Goodling and Kyle Sampson, his then chief of staff, the power to appoint or dismiss all department political appointees besides United States Attorneys, who are appointed by the President. The delegation included authority over interim United States attorneys (who are appointed by the Attorney General) and heads of the divisions that handle civil rights, public corruption, environmental crimes and other matters.[5][8][9]

U.S. attorneys controversy

Main article: Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy

According to e-mails, Goodling was involved in planning controversial 2006 U.S. attorney dismissals and in later efforts to limit the negative public reaction.[10] Goodling "warned of potential political problems with Timothy Griffin's interim appointment as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas and underscored White House interest in getting it done."[10] Reportedly, Goodling "took a leading role" in Bud Cummins's dismissal.[10]

Resignation

On March 23, 2007, she took an indefinite leave of absence.[11] On March 26, 2007, Goodling cancelled her upcoming appearance at a Congressional hearing, citing her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.[12][13] No Department of Justice employee has ever exercised his or her Fifth Amendment rights with respect to official conduct and remained an employee.[14] On April 6, 2007, Goodling announced her resignation from the Department of Justice, writing to Gonzales, "May God bless you richly as you continue your service to America."[15]

Limited immunity to testify

On April 25, 2007, the House Judiciary Committee voted 32-6 to grant Goodling immunity, (meeting the required two-thirds majority requirement) and immediately authorized a subpoena.[16] In early May 2007, the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility investigated whether Goodling violated federal law in making "hiring decisions on assistant U.S. attorneys based on party affiliation."[17]

Initially, commentators speculated that Justice Department officials could try to bar Goodling's testimony to the House Committee, on the grounds that it might interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation. However, the Justice Department subsequently agreed not to contest the congressional grant of immunity.[18]

On May 11, 2007, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Thomas Hogan signed an order granting Goodling immunity in exchange for her truthful testimony for the investigation of the firings, stating that "Goodling may not refuse to testify, and may not refuse to provide other information, when compelled to do so" before the Committee.[19]

House Judiciary committee hearing

Goodling appeared before the House Judiciary Committee, on May 23, 2007, under a limited immunity agreement,[19] and provided to the committee a written statement that she read at the start of her testimony.[20][21]

In response to questions during the hearing, Goodling stated that she "crossed the line" and broke civil service rules about hiring, and improperly weighed political factors in considering applicants for career positions at the Department of Justice.[22][23] Link to *Washington Post* transcript of the hearing.

Investigation of Goodling's hiring practices

On May 3, 2007, the Washington Post reported that the United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General launched an internal probe into whether Goodling "illegally took party affiliation into account in hiring career federal prosecutors" in her work at the Department.[24]

On May 12, the New York Times published an article about Goodling repeatedly engaging in "prohibited personnel practices" while at the Justice Department. "You have a Monica problem" several Justice Department officials told Robin C. Ashton, a criminal prosecutor at the Department of Justice. "She believes you're a Democrat and doesn't feel you can be trusted."[25] Ashton was denied a promotion during Goodling's tenure, but in the Obama administration, Attorney General Eric Holder determined that she was qualified and appointed her as Counsel for Professional Responsibility, the head of the Justice Department's internal ethics unit.[26]

One week after Goodling's testimony before the House, the Department's Office of the Inspector General and Counsel for the Office of Professional Responsibility confirmed in a letter[27] to the Senate Judiciary Committee, that they were expanding their investigation beyond "the removals of United States Attorneys" to also include "DOJ hiring and personnel decisions" by Goodling and other Justice Department employees.[28]

On July 28, 2008, a Justice Department report concluded that Goodling had violated federal law and Justice Department policy by discriminating against job applicants who weren't Republican or conservative loyalists. "Goodling improperly subjected candidates for certain career positions to the same politically based evaluation she used on candidates for political positions," the report concluded. In one instance, Justice investigators found, Goodling initially objected to hiring an assistant prosecutor in Washington because "judging from his resume, he appeared to be a liberal Democrat type." In another, she rejected an experienced terrorism prosecutor to work on counterterrorism issues at a Justice Department headquarters office "because of his wife's political affiliations,". In another case, colleagues said that Goodling blocked the appointment of a female prosecutor in Washington because she "believed the lawyer was involved in a lesbian relationship with her supervisor", according to the report. "There was no romantic relationship," said Lisa Banks,[29] the attorney for Leslie Hagen, "but the rumors were pernicious and grew legs, and it cost her the job."[30] Hagen was subsequently rehired to her old job.[31]

Role in other DOJ controversies

On May 7, 2007, National Journal's "Inside Washington" column reported that it was Goodling who ordered drapes to be placed over the partially nude Art Deco statues (Spirit of Justice) in the Justice Department's Great Hall during Ashcroft's tenure as Attorney General. At the time, the department spent $8,000 on blue drapes to hide the two giant, aluminum statues, according to spokesman Shane Hix.[citation needed] The coverings were removed in 2005.

On April 2, 2008, NPR's All Things Considered reported that the Justice Department's inspector general was investigating whether Goodling was instrumental in the February 2007 dismissal of Department career attorney Leslie Hagen from her job due to rumors that Hagen was a lesbian. An e-mail shows that a few months before Hagen was let go, Goodling decided to remove part of Hagen's job portfolio.[32] On April 4, 2008, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee sought confirmation that the Department of Justice Inspector General and the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) were examining the case of the dismissal of Hagen.[33][34] According to NPR, the Inspector General confirmed the NPR report, and in February 2009 Hagen was hired back at her previous position.[35]

On July 15, 2009, Washington Blade's "The Latest" column reported that it was Goodling who asked Michael Elston to lead a 2006 screening committee for the Justice Department Summer Internship Program. The column goes on to describe an evaluation of apparent discriminatory application process similar to the 2007 attempts to remove Department attorneys based on non-qualifying criteria. The research shows that under Goodling/Elston, 82% of applicants with liberal affiliations on their resume were rejected for the program while only 13% of applicants with conservative affiliations were rejected.[36]

Current Status

Monica Goodling married Michael Krempasky, co-founder of RedState.com. She is currently employed under her married name, Monica Krempasky, at Corallo Media Strategies, a Virginia public relations shop run by former John Ashcroft spokesman Mark Corallo.[37][38]

Notes

  1. ^ [http://www.nndb.com/people/334/000129944/
  2. ^ *Legal Times* May 6, 2011.
  3. ^ Cooperman, Alan. [1] Washington Post, March 30, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2007.
  4. ^ nytimes.com, May 12, 2007, Colleagues Cite Partisan Focus by Justice Official by ERIC LIPTON,[2]
  5. ^ a(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Goodling#cite_ref-NYT-Lipton-2007-05-12_5-0) b(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Goodling#cite_ref-NYT-Lipton-2007-05-12_5-1) c(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Goodling#cite_ref-NYT-Lipton-2007-05-12_5-2) d(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Goodling#cite_ref-NYT-Lipton-2007-05-12_5-3) Lipton, Eric (May 12, 2007). "Colleagues Cite Partisan Focus by Justice Official". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  6. ^ "House, Senate aides quiz Buchanan on firings". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. June 16, 2007.
  7. ^ Cooperman, Alan (March 30, 2007). "Bush Loyalist Rose Quickly at Justice". Washington Post. p. A15. Retrieved 2007-04-26.
  8. ^ Wass, Murray (2007-04-30). "Secret Order By Gonzales Delegated Extraordinary Powers To Aides". National Journal (National Journal Group, Inc.). Retrieved 2007-05-09.
  9. ^ Internal Document Granting Personnel Hiring Authority to DoJ Aides (via Talking Points Memo, May 9, 2007.) Retrieved May 10, 2007. Alberto Gonzales, Office of the Attorney General. Order 2808-2006. Delegation of certain personnel authorities to the Chief of Staff to the Attorney General and to the White House Liaison of the Department of Justice. March 1, 2006.
  10. ^ a(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Goodling#cite_ref-McClatchy0326_10-0) b(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Goodling#cite_ref-McClatchy0326_10-1) c(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Goodling#cite_ref-McClatchy0326_10-2) "Who is Monica Goodling?". McClatchy Newspapers. March 29, 2007. Archived from the original on April 9, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-26.
  11. ^ Dan Eggen (March 24, 2007). "Gonzales Met With Top Aides On Firings: Papers Appear to Contradict Denial". Washington Post. p. A01.
  12. ^ Letter from Goodling's attorneys to Senator Patrick Leahy, Judiciary Committee, March 24, 2007
  13. ^ Dan Eggen (March 26, 2007). "Gonzales's Senior Counselor Refuses to Testify". Washington Post.
  14. ^ Transcript: FBI Director Robert Mueller at Senate Judiciary Committee; March 27, 2007
  15. ^ Jordan, Lara Jakes (2007-04-06). "Gonzales aide Goodling resigns". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2007-04-08. Retrieved 2007-04-07.
  16. ^ Gonzales aide gets immunity
  17. ^ "Former Gonzales aide under investigation". Daily India. May 2, 2007.
  18. ^ Appuzo, Matt (2007-05-11). "Goodling Granted Immunity in DOJ Probe". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-05-16.[dead link]
  19. ^ a(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Goodling#cite_ref-gonzaleswatch.com_19-0) b(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Goodling#cite_ref-gonzaleswatch.com_19-1) "Order Granting Monica Goodling immunity". Gonzales Watch. 2007-05-11. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
  20. ^ Dan, Eggen; Carol D. Leonnig (May 23, 2007). "Officials Describe Interference by Former Gonzales Aide". Washington Post. pp. A04. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
  21. ^ Goodling, Monica (May 23, 2007). "Remarks of Monica Goodling before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States House of Representatives" (PDF). Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives. Archived from the original on 2007-05-30. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
  22. ^ Stout, David (May 23, 2007). "Ex-Gonzales Aide Testifies, ‘I Crossed the Line’". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
  23. ^ Congressional Quarterly, Transcripts Wire (May 23, 2007). "Goodling Testifies Before The House Judiciary Committee". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
  24. ^ Eggen, Dan; Amy Goldstein (2007-05-02). "Ex-Aide to Gonzales Accused Of Bias". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-05-30.
  25. ^ Lipton, Eric (2007-05-12). "Colleagues Cite Partisan Focus by Justice Official". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
  26. ^ Reilly, Ryan J. (December 24, 2010). "Reported Victim Of Bush-Era DOJ Politicization To Head DOJ's Internal Watchdog". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
  27. ^ Gonzales Watch (May 30, 2007). "Letter from Justice Department Inspector General and Counsel, Office of Professional Responsibility". Gonzales Watch.
  28. ^ Eggen, Dan (2007-05-30). "Justice Dept. Widens Firings Probe". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-05-30.
  29. ^ http://www.kmblegal.com/index.php/40/Lisa_J_Banks_Partner
  30. ^ New York Times website: July 28, 2008.
  31. ^ http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/dojer_fired_amid_gay_rumors_gets_job_back.php
  32. ^ Shapiro, Ari (2008-04-02). "Justice Probes Lawyer's Dismissal Amid Gay Rumor". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
  33. ^ Leahy, Specter Push For Inclusion Of Hagen Case In IG-OPR Investigation
  34. ^ NPR article
  35. ^ NPR story
  36. ^ Reference Blade article
  37. ^ Roberts, Roxanne (May 11, 2011). "Monica Goodling — hard to find these days but still around — reprimanded by Virginia Bar". Washington Post. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  38. ^ "Corallo Media Strategies - Team". Retrieved July 16, 2012.

External links

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Published on Monday, June 11, 2007 by the Washington Post

Immigration Judges Often Picked Based On GOP Ties

by Amy Goldstein / Dan Eggen

The Bush administration increasingly emphasized partisan political ties over expertise in recent years in selecting the judges who decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, despite laws that preclude such considerations, according to an analysis by The Washington Post.

At least one-third of the immigration judges appointed by the Justice Department since 2004 have had Republican connections or have been administration insiders, and half lacked experience in immigration law, Justice Department, immigration court and other records show.

Two newly appointed immigration judges were failed candidates for the U.S. Tax Court nominated by President Bush; one fudged his taxes and the other was deemed unqualified to be a tax judge by the nation's largest association of lawyers. Both were Republican loyalists.

Justice officials also gave immigration judgeships to a New Jersey election law specialist who represented GOP candidates, a former treasurer of the Louisiana Republican Party, a White House domestic policy adviser and a conservative crusader against pornography.

These appointments, all made by the attorney general, have begun to reshape a system of courts in which judges, ruling alone, exercise broad powers -- deporting each year nearly a quarter-million immigrants, who have limited rights to appeal and no right to an attorney. The judges do not serve fixed terms.

Department officials say they changed their hiring practices in April but defend their selections. Still, the injection of political considerations into the selection of immigration judges has attracted congressional attention in the wake of controversy over the Bush administration's dismissal last year of nine U.S. attorneys.

The Post analysis is the first systematic examination of the people appointed to immigration courts, the relationships that led to their selection and the experience they brought to their position. The review, based on Justice records and research into the judges' backgrounds, encompassed the 37 current judges approved by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales or his predecessor, John D. Ashcroft, starting in 2004.

That year is when the Justice Department began to jettison the civil service process that traditionally guided the selections in favor of political considerations, according to sworn congressional testimony by one senior department official and a statement by the lawyer for another official.

Those two officials, D. Kyle Sampson and Monica M. Goodling, have said they were told the practice was legal. But Justice spokesman Dean Boyd said that immigration judges are considered civil service employees who may not be chosen based on political factors, unlike judges in federal criminal courts.

All the judges appointed during this period who arrived with experience in immigration law were prosecutors or held other immigration enforcement jobs. That was a reversal of a trend during the Clinton administration in which the Justice Department sought to balance such appointees with ones who had been attorneys representing immigrants, according to current and former immigration judges.

Boyd said in a written statement that judges appointed during the Bush administration are "well qualified for their current positions" and that "outstanding immigration judges can come from diverse backgrounds." Boyd also said that race and ethnicity are not factors in hiring but cited statistics showing that immigration courts are "considerably more diverse" than other kinds of courts.

How Pat Robertson's law school is changing America.

By Dahlia Lithwick|Posted Saturday, April 7, 2007, at 6:52 AM

Monica Goodling has a problem. As senior counsel to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Justice Department liaison to the White House, Goodling no longer seems to know what the truth is. She must also be increasingly unclear about who her superiors are. This didn't used to be a problem for Goodling, now on indefinite leave from the DoJ. Everything was once very certain: Her boss's truth was always the same as God's truth. Her boss was always either God or one of His staffers.

This week, through counsel, Goodling again refused to testify about her role in the firings of several U.S. attorneys for what appear to be partisan reasons. Asserting her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, Goodling somehow felt she may be on the hook for criminal obstruction. But it was never clear whose truths she was protecting or even whose law seems to have tripped her up. She resigned abruptly Friday evening without explanation.

Goodling is an improbable character for a political scandal. She's the mirror opposite of that other Monica—the silly, saucy minx who felled Bill Clinton. A 1995 graduate of an evangelical Christian school, Messiah College, and a 1999 graduate of Pat Robertson's Regent University School of Law (this seems to be her Web page), Goodling's chief claim to professional fame appears to have been loyalty to the president and to the process of reshaping the Justice Department in his image (and thus, His image). A former career official there told the Washington Post that Goodling "forced many very talented, career people out of main Justice so she could replace them with junior people that were either loyal to the administration or would score her some points." And as she rose at Justice, according to a former classmate, Goodling "developed a very positive reputation for people coming from Christian schools into Washington looking for employment in government."

Start digging, and Goodling also looks to be the Forrest Gump of no comments: Here she is in 1997, fielding calls from reporters to Regent's School of Government admissions office. Asked whether non-Christians were admitted, she explained that "we admit all students without discrimination. We are a Christian institution; it is assumed that everyone in the classes are Christians." Here, in:{ 2004:(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}:, she's answering phones at the Justice Department about whether then-Deputy Solicitor General Paul Clement knew about the abuses at Abu Ghraib when he told the Supreme Court that the United States does not torture. Said Goodling, in lieu of taking the Fifth: "We wouldn't have any comment." (Jenny Martinez, who argued against Clement that day at the court, suggested to Salon's Tim Grieve: "When Mr. Clement said to the court that we wouldn't engage in that kind of behavior, either he was deliberately misleading the court or he was completely out of the loop." Sound familiar?)

Goodling is only one of 150 graduates of Regent University currently serving in this administration, as Regent's Web site proclaims proudly, a huge number for a 29-year-old school. Regent estimates that "approximately one out of every six Regent alumni is employed in some form of government work." And that's precisely what its founder desired. The school's motto is "Christian Leadership To Change the World," and the world seems to be changing apace. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft teaches at Regent, and graduates have achieved senior positions in the Bush administration. The express goal is not only to tear down the wall between church and state in America (a "lie of the left," according to Robertson) but also to enmesh the two.

The law school's dean, Jeffrey A. Brauch, urges in his "vision" statement that students reflect upon "the critical role the Christian faith should play in our legal system." Jason Eige ('99), senior assistant to Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell, puts it pithily in the alumni newsletter, Regent Remark: "Your Résumé Is God's Instrument."

This legal worldview meshed perfectly with that of former Attorney General John Ashcroft—a devout Pentecostal who forbade use of the word "pride," as well as the phrase "no higher calling than public service," on documents bearing his signature. (He also snatched the last bit of fun out of his press conferences when he covered up the bared breasts of the DoJ statue the "Spirit of Justice"). No surprise that, as he launched a transformation of the Justice Department, the Goodlings looked good to him.

One of Ashcroft's most profound changes was to the Civil Rights Division, launched in 1957 to file cases on behalf of African-Americans and women. Under Ashcroft, career lawyers were systematically fired or forced out and replaced by members ofconservative or Christian groups or folks with no civil rights experience. In the five years after 2001, the civil rights division brought no voting cases on behalf of African-Americans. It brought one employment case on behalf of an African-American. Instead, the division took up the "civil rights" abuses of reverse discrimination—claims of voter fraud or discrimination against Christians. On Feb. 20, Gonzales announced a new initiative called the First Freedom Project to carry out "even greater enforcement of religious rights for all Americans." In his view, the fight for a student's right to read a Bible at school is as urgent a civil rights problem as the right to vote.

We may agree or disagree on that proposition, but it certainly explains how Goodling came to confuse working to advance Gonzales' agenda with working to advance God's. But while God may well want more prayer in the public schools, it's not clear He wanted David Iglesias fired on a pretext. In an excellent 2005 article about Regent in the American Prospect Online, Christopher Hayes points out that more than two-thirds of the students at Regent identified as Republicans, and only 9 percent identified as Democrats. As he concludes, "what students are taught at a place like Regent, or even Calvin and Wheaton, is to live out a Christ-centered existence in all facets of their lives. But what they learn is to become Republicans."

Is there anything wrong with legal scholarship from a Christian perspective? Not that I see. Is there anything wrong with a Bush administration that disproportionately uses graduates from such Christian law schools to fill its staffing needs? Not that I see. It's a shorthand, not better or worse than cherry-picking the Federalist Society or the bar association. I can't even get exercised over the fact that Gonzales, Rove, and Miers had their baby lawyers making critical staffing decisions for them. The baby lawyers had extremely clear marching orders.

No, the real concern here is that Goodling and her ilk somehow began to conflate God's work with the president's. Probably not a lesson she learned in law school. The dream of Regent and its counterparts, like Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, is to redress perceived wrongs to Christians, to reclaim the public square, and reassert Christian political authority. And while that may have been a part of the Bush/Rove plan, it was, in the end, only a small part. Their real zeal was for earthly power. And Goodling was left holding the earthly bag.

At the end of the day, Goodling and the other young foot soldiers for God may simply have run afoul of the first rule of politics, codified in Psalm 146: "Put no trust in princes, in mere mortals in whom there is no help."

From Monica Goodling's prepared statement before the House Judiciary Committee on May 23, 2007:

...

Prior to December 2006, the Office of the Attorney General played a role in selecting individuals appointed under the Attorney General's name to serve as Immigration Judges and members of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). 

...

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 earlierindicating that Immigration Judge appointments were not subject to the civil service rules applicable to other career positions.

.....

At some point in the later part of 2006, questions arose regarding the personnel rules applicable to Immigration Judgeships and positions on the BIA. 

Hiring on Immigration Judges and BIA positions was frozen in December 2006 after the civil division expressed concerns that the civil service rules might apply.

.....

http://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/GoodlingII070523....Page 6-7