Goodling Under Investigation By DoJ

By Cernig

The AP reports that:

The Justice Department is investigating whether its former White House liaison used political affiliation in deciding who to hire as entry-level prosecutors in U.S. attorneys' offices around the country, The Associated Press has learned.

Doing so is a violation of federal law.

The inquiry involving Monica Goodling, the former counsel and White House liaison for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, raises new concerns that politics might have cast a shadow over the independence of trial prosecutors who enforce U.S. laws.

Justice spokesman Dean Boyd confirmed Wednesday that the department's inspector general and Office of Professional Responsibility were investigating Goodling's role in hiring career attorneys - an unusual responsibility for her to take.

Goodling ``may have taken prohibited considerations into account during such review,'' Boyd told the AP. ``Whether or not the allegation is true is currently the subject of the OIG/OPR investigation.''

Given that Goodling and fellow traveller Kyle Sampson were handed the authority to appoint about 135 politically appointed Justice Department employees who did not require Senate confirmation, in an attempt to stuff the DoJ with loyalists, it seems like a good time to ask whether she had a hand in appointing any of those who will be investigating her.