DoJ launches internal investigation of hiring practices
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Thu May 03, 2007 at 03:35:05 PM EST
The media is abuzz today about the announcement that the Justice Department is launching an internal investigation into whether or not Monica Goodling, Gonzales' former White House liason who resigned in April, illegally took partisan affiliation into account when hiring nonpolitical career federal prosecutors.
Additionally, statements released by some of the fired US attorneys raise new questions about how their dismissal was handled. From the Washington Post:
In newly released statements, the two alleged that they were threatened by Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty's chief of staff immediately before Gonzales testified in the Senate in January.
Paul K. Charlton of Phoenix and John McKay of Seattle said that Michael J. Elston called them on Jan. 17 and offered an implicit agreement of Gonzales's silence in exchange for their continuing not to publicly discuss their removals. Gonzales testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee the next day and refused to provide details about the firings.
"My handwritten and dated notes of this call reflect that I believed Mr. Elston's tone was sinister and that he was prepared to threaten me further if he concluded I did not intend to continue to remain silent about my dismissal," McKay wrote in response to questions from the House Judiciary Committee.
Elston is denying this, of course. But that's not the end of it:
Two other fired prosecutors complained pointedly about Elston, according to the statements released yesterday.
Carol C. Lam of San Diego wrote that Elston "erroneously accused me of 'leaking' my dismissal to the press, and criticized me for talking to other dismissed U.S. attorneys."
Bud Cummins of Little Rock repeated his account of a Feb. 20 phone call with Elston, two days after Cummins was quoted in a newspaper article. Cummins wrote that Elston "essentially said that if the controversy continued, then some of the USAs would have to be 'thrown under the bus.' "
It remains to be seen what impact the DoJ's internal investigation and the new statements from the ex-US Attorneys will have on the ongoing Congressional hearings.
Tags: Justice Department, Alberto Gonzales, Monica Goodling, Michael Elston, partisanship, Carol Lam, Paul Charlton, John McKay, Bud Cummins (all tags)
You are not logged in.
In order to post a comment, you must be logged in. If you have a member account, please log in to comment.
If not, you can make an account just by filling out the form below. It's quick and free.
