FOLKS: Goodling may have inadvertantly clobbered Gonzo today

[WilliamPitt]

Goodling Testifies about Gonzales Meeting
By Paul Kiel - May 23, 2007, 4:27 PM

During her testimony, Monica Goodling testified about a meeting she had with Alberto Gonzales shortly before she left the department -- they're last meeting. Goodling dated the conversation as taking place on a Thursday or Friday the week before she went on leave for the department (March 23rd) -- so on March 14th or 15th. That was just a week after Congress requested to interview Goodling about what she knew.

Goodling's testimony is sure to lead to questions about whether Gonzales was trying to tamper with a witness of a congressional investigation.

In this private discussion with Gonzales, Goodling said she asked for a transfer out of her current position because of the scandal. Gonzales said he'd have to think about that, but then started telling Goodling what he remembered about the firing process. He then asked her if she had "any reaction" to his memory. "I didn't know that it was maybe appropriate for us to talk about that," she said, adding that it made her "uncomfortable." When Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) asked if she thought the attorney general had been trying to shape her recollection of the firings, she said no, but then did say again that the conversation had made her feel uncomfortable.

Now, Congress had been openly investigating the firings since January. On March 8, the House Judiciary Committee requested that Goodling testify before the committee. The following week, Gonzales was comparing stories with her. That doesn't sound good.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003286.php

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Oh no, no intent at influencing her, there.

I am sure it was all innocent and completely friendly. Prima Facae and all. After all, these guys are...what...oh, yes..."Paragons of Virtue".

If I were Monica, I would be gettin' me some bodyguards.

[truebrit71]

2. Interesting...

...also I have caught the great Will Pitt with a spelling error... it's "their" not "they're"

I RULE!!!!

(Just funnin' ya Will)

On topic, I thought that was very interesting as well...and if the multitudes of threads keeping us cube-rats informed, that is when the republicans on the committee started to lose they're ( ;-)) collective shared brain cell...

[WilliamPitt]

7. Where? Above?

I didn't write that. :P

[truebrit71]

13. Damn! Damn! Damn!

...I KNEW it was too good to be true...

[WilliamPitt]

14. Mwah hah hah

Your a trader to America. I'm series.

:P

[SammyWinstonJack]

16. So screwn!

;-)

[truebrit71]

17. Thats HUGH11111

:rofl:

[SammyWinstonJack]

19. Stop casting asparagus!11!

:evilgrin:

[displacedtexan]

21. If Monica has screwn Gonzo, I'll never vote for George Bush again!

[liberalnurse]

18. They are discussing this now on CNN.

n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. She fuckered McNulty over.

He's already resigning though.

[truebrit71]

5. Which is probably why she did it....you can't be fired if you've already quit...

....and he's already said that Goodling is full of shit...

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. You can do a few years in the pokey though.

Not that I expect him too.

[WilliamPitt]

8. *ahem*

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003288.php

:)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. Yeah, I heard that.

It's like Peter Griffin and the Giant Chicken throwing each other under the bus.

[WillyT]

4. That's What I'm Thinking... Either Getting Their Stories Straight, Or...

Gonzo trying to steer her memory, and shape her story.

:shrug:

[bluestateguy]

9. I don't think Gonzo leaves until mid-August

In the lazy dog days of summer, when all of Washington is on vacation, when Americans have their minds on something other than politics, on a Friday afternoon. That's when Gonzo leaves.

[Richard Steele]

11. Yup. I heard it as her trying really hard -not- to describe attempted witness tampering...

...and failing to not describe it.

[liberalnurse]

12. Does this kitten have legs?

It seems she was really prepared by someone...maintaining the black mist atmosphere we are becoming all to familiar with from anyone out of the administration. The repugs on the committee only added reinforcement to the minimization and denial rhetoric. I myself got frustrated and distracted once again with another hearing where the facts are obliterated.

I'm saying, is it big enough?

[L. Coyote]

25. U nailed it here. Repubs had scripted this to the word, practically conspiratorial

of softball questions and misdirection. That expensive PR firm must have worked overtime preparing the USAs dog's tail to wag the Committee and the USA.

When Repubs asked questions, Goodling sailed along with speeches, obviously very prepped for the questions asked. More importantly, there was an effort to spin the whole scandal along certain lines.

They liked the "Coyote" angle of blame for Lam's firing, obfuscating the public coruption and bribery angle, and especially the Medicare fraud angle. I sensed complicity of House members here. Were the Repub Committee members getting big contributons from the corrupt actors? Yes, Keller was part of the Abramoff scandal, and the California Repubs know plenty about the Medicare fraudm trail but were mute on that aspect. It was interesting to see how well-chosen the tail was and how well-groomed the dog's barking was, actually more than very interesting, even, almost, dare I say it, conspiratorial.

[Usrename]

15. Gonzo's problem is that he swore he never discussed it with her.

He testified that since he had recused himself, he had no discussions with anyone about the firings.

:crazy:

[firefox_fan]

20. BUT, she said that she did not engage in the conversation..

So, technically, there was no discussion. Just Gonzo talking to himself.

[badgerpup]

24. He talks to himself, can't remember for beans...

...has no clue what his staff may or may not be doing or where agendas/firing lists originate...

I realize that you should "Hire the Handicapped" and that the Americans with Disabilites Act (ADA) has some serious teeth in it, but holee chit, the person should still be able to DO the damn job, ya know?
:banghead:


edit to add :sarcasm:

[L. Coyote]

26. Yes, over and over again he repeated that mantra, his excuse for knowing nothing

[tblue37]

22. Remember during the Clinton investigation,

when he was talking with his secretary about his memory of the events surround her gathering up of the gifts he had given to Monica? Wasn't he accused of trying to shape her version of events?

[Junkdrawer]

23. Sorry, but Gonzo owns a Thesaurus, so he's home free...

He's never LIED to Congress, but he has been "less than candid"...

He'd never TAMPER a witness, but he might "inquire about their recollections" ...

[L. Coyote]

27. And what does iteration mean anyway?

In this CON-text, the process of repeating a set of recollections a specified number of times until the desired result is achieved, creating the new truer version.

[Blue-Jay]

28. their, there, they're.

[Swamp Rat]

29. Witness tampering

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00001512----000-.html

TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 73

§ 1512. Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant

(snip)

(b) Whoever knowingly uses intimidation, threatens, or corruptly persuades another person, or attempts to do so, or engages in misleading conduct toward another person, with intent to—
(1) influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding;
(2) cause or induce any person to—
(A) withhold testimony, or withhold a record, document, or other object, from an official proceeding;

(snip)

(e) In a prosecution for an offense under this section, it is an affirmative defense, as to which the defendant has the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence, that the conduct consisted solely of lawful conduct and that the defendant’s sole intention was to encourage, induce, or cause the other person to testify truthfully.

(snip)

(j) If the offense under this section occurs in connection with a trial of a criminal case, the maximum term of imprisonment which may be imposed for the offense shall be the higher of that otherwise provided by law or the maximum term that could have been imposed for any offense charged in such case.

(k) Whoever conspires to commit any offense under this section shall be subject to the same penalties as those prescribed for the offense the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy.

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00001512----000-.html

[L. Coyote]

30. NOTE: Video in the article TRANSCRIPTED here in part

"I was paralyzed, I was distraught..."

MG: But, he then proceeded to say, ah, "Let me tell you what I can remember" um, and he kinda, he laid out for me his general recollection of

Rep. Davis: Recollection of what, Miss Gooding?

MG: Of some of the process

Rep. Davis: Some of the process regarding what?

MG: Some of the process regarding the a, the replacement of the US attorneys, uhm, and he, he just, he had a, he laid out a little bit of it and he asked me if I thought, if I had any reaction to his iteration, and I remember thinking at that point that this was something that we were all going to have to talk about and I didn't know that it was, I just, I didn't know that it was maybe appropriate for us to talk about that at that point so I just didn't, as far as I can remember I just didn't respond.

[pingzing58]

31. Just remind her that she is under oath and has immunity.

[L. Coyote]

32. OR, nothing inadvertent about it. She just pinned the elephant in the jugular

with that tale, and her testimony is in effect, (paraphrasing) "the Nation's top law enforcement officer lied under oath to Congress over and over again." That does not seem an inadvertence. She testified "Gonzolies."

[radfringe]

33. couple of things to note--

she admitted to caging lists - which is illegal according to 1964 voting rights act. Thom Hartman also mentioned it in his show yesterday, and mentioned the republics were specifically banned from using such tactics in the 1980's (I can't find anything in the tubes of the internets specifically mentioning the republics and 1980 caging - maybe someone else will have better luck?)

She also admitted to "crossing the line" with taking political affiliation into consideration when hiring civil servants, I think her words were "I knew it was against the rules, but not against the law"

*snorting on that one* - she's an attorney, wielding considerable power and influence, and she's no dummy - how can she NOT know it was against the law??? Any one of us doing or attending a job interview knows that it is illegal to base hiring on race, religion, gender, ethnicity and POLITICAL affiliations, etc.