Investigation Of Goodling’s Partisan Hiring Expands, May Net Gonzales
Investigation Of Goodling’s Partisan Hiring Expands, May Net Gonzales
The Justice Department has broadened an internal investigation into whether Monica Goodling and other department aides “improperly took into account political considerations in hiring employees.”
Specifically, investigators want to learn more about Goodling’s admission this week that she had “considered party affiliation in screening applicants to become immigration judges.” The New York Times notes:
Some 75 of the 226 immigration judges have been appointed during the Bush administration. Forty-nine of them were appointed during the tenure of Mr. Gonzales, and it was during part of that period that Ms. Goodling was involved.
These immigration judges, stationed throughout the country, handled more than 300,000 cases last year on matters like deportation proceedings and political asylum requests.
Unlike federal judges, immigration judges are civil service employees, to be appointed by the attorney general based on professional qualifications, not their politics.
The process for selecting immigration judges is “murky.” While there is “a formal application process for immigration judges” run by Executive Office of Immigration Review, the attorney general “has the option to pre-empt the formal vetting process and directly hire a judge of his choosing.” This may explain why a Legal Times investigation last June found:
Among the 19 immigration judges hired since 2004: Francis Cramer, the former campaign treasurer for New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg; James Nugent, the former vice chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party; and Chris Brisack, a former Republican Party county chairman from Texas who had served on the state library commission under then-Gov. George W. Bush.”
As the Los Angeles Times notes, “The internal Justice Department investigation, although focused on Goodling, could turn up embarrassing information about Gonzales’ management practices and what, if anything, he knew about the role that politics played in hiring employees protected by civil service laws.”
UPDATE: TPMMuckraker has more HERE.
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38 Responses to “Investigation Of Goodling’s Partisan Hiring Expands, May Net Gonzales”
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Wow. Partisan hiring by politicians.
Oh, the scandal.
May 25th, 2007 at 10:31 amhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cJlJudDtVE
must see
May 25th, 2007 at 10:33 amhttp://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=LsNM5zbe4Pk&mode=related&search=
May 25th, 2007 at 10:36 amNone of this mean’s anything..A total waste of time, no one will be found guilty of anything, no one impeached, no accountability…We have reich winger’s and reich lite enabeling everything so why bother…Just bring in the coffee and donut’s, have a chat and then go to the next do nothing meeting..Blessings
May 25th, 2007 at 10:41 amDoh!
Karl Rove obviously runs the Justice Department.
Karl Rove is an extreme partisan.
Therefore, the justice department makes partisan hiring decisions.
It’s a no-brainer.
May 25th, 2007 at 10:42 am#1 Spoken like a true cynic. But Republicans don’t believe in the rule of law. They believe in winning at all cost. Their personal philosophy is centered on the view that the ends justify the means. So it is hardly surprising to find this attitude among the morally bankrupt set.
May 25th, 2007 at 10:43 amhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1n7xgD1Keg
May 25th, 2007 at 10:43 amThis is not a tangled web, it’s just one sticky strand that is supposed to avoided. By that, I mean they were supposed to stay within the boundries of the law and constitution, and should’ve easily been accomplished. I know this isn’t a case of mere incompetence, this is a criminal and treasonous act.
May 25th, 2007 at 10:44 amLOL! MAY NET?
HOLY SHIT, does he have to eat a live baby in front of the committee?
may net…. kill it!
May 25th, 2007 at 10:45 amho hum. Nothing will come of it.
“Oops, guess I shouldn’t have done that. Sorry!”
“Very well then. Carry on.”
May 25th, 2007 at 10:45 amhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qknkxPw9aDA
take the time to watch these links and find your head exploding with rage
May 25th, 2007 at 10:47 amAnd Goodling herself testified under oath that her actions were ILLEGAL.
May 25th, 2007 at 10:47 amCynicon, I suppose you must vigorously support Hillary Clinton’s right to break the law when she is President. Right? Because you have openly advocated here that Bush and the Republicans can break the law whenever it is to their partisan advantage.
May 25th, 2007 at 10:49 am#12, Yes she did testify under oath that her acts were illegal. And Patrick-the-weak-hearted-coward fled when it happened. Not a single peep out of Patrick-bed-wetter about it, despite having daily advocated the view that no laws were broken.
How about it, Patrick? Feeling braver today? No? Hiding under the bed from the truth again? Mom says breakfast is ready if you come out.
May 25th, 2007 at 10:52 amWow. Turning the Justice Department into a wing of the Republican Party full of political hacks who will use the law against political opponants.
That is just fine in the eyes of the Bush Cultists.
-GSD
May 25th, 2007 at 10:54 amHow about it, Patrick? Feeling braver today? No? Hiding under the bed from the truth again? Mom says breakfast is ready if you come out.
Comment by VerbalKint — May 25, 2007 @ 10:52 am
Please be patient, VerbalKint. Patrick1nut is currently researching rightwing blogs for talking points.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:01 amApparently, this topic hasn’t garnished much discussion on the right.
CyniCON and the like remind me of that inmate that was just executed when his last words were “Go Raiders.” They already have no vision but they have absolutely no forethought about how justice works. Even at the top.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:01 amOT:
North Korea has apparently test-fired some missles (into the sea towards Japan).
Where’s that tough talkin Texas pussy George Bush now? Where’s Dead-eye Dick (the biggest pussy of all time)? Well, they’re not in North Korea, that’s for sure. No profit to be made there. No profit in controlling our borders, either. So far, they’ve lied to everybody, and everybody was cool with that. Then, they stole from everybody, and we held the door for them. Maybe if they raped everybody, there’d be some outrage. The 28 percenters would probably like it.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:04 amIf you do net Gonzo, check him for an adipose fin. He may be hatchery bred.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:09 amOnce again, the GOP has trotted out its “criminalization of politics” defense.
Some quotes from House Judiciary Committee members on Wednesday:
Mike Pence (R-IN):
“I’m listening very intently. I’m studying this case. And I want to explore this issue of illegal behavior with you. Because it seems to me so much of this — and even something of what we’ve heard today in this otherwise cordial hearing — is about the criminalization of politics. In a very real sense, it seems to be about the attempted criminalization of things that are vital to our constitutional system of government, namely the taking into consideration of politics in the appointment of political officials within the government.”
Dan Lundgren (R-CA):
May 25th, 2007 at 11:09 am“Let me just say this — and I think it’s an important point — there is too much of a tendency in this environment to try and criminalize political disputes. That’s been the effort here. They have found no basis for criminality, so the suggestion is now a vote of no confidence. Who knows what is next?”
What needs to be focused on is the hiring practices and policy practices of DOJ that favors evangelical christianity interests before civil rights.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:10 amThis was a classic Perry Mason moment. Breaking down on the stand under cross examination and confessing to violating the Hatch Act.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:14 amNow what? Nothing I imagine.
This is absurd. “The DOJ is conducting an internal investigation?” That place is rotten to the core! Why on earth would anyone think the investigators aren’t as corrupt as the rest of them?
May 25th, 2007 at 11:15 amWatched the video in congress testifying about war profiteering, bs. Made me sick how the comittee member kept trying to switch the blame back to the producer, change the subject. *OOh ooh, but see how bad this is… who cares if it is completely irrelevant to this discussion. All the better.* Made me sick. These people don’t represent us. How can anyone respect him? How can so many follow these idiotic trains of illogic? I need to take a break. I am so depressed from all that is happening/not happening to our once great nation. I feel betrayed and sold out. Going camping with friends and family.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:15 amThe Bush administration, especially his Department of Injustice, is like a Victorian living room: overfilled with every species of stuffed Republican hack that can be found anywhere in the Empire.
All gathering dust on the public payroll, in an administration and party that considers “working for govt” a contradiction in terms and a fraud on the taxpayer. A Freudian slip, perhaps. One of the most prominent promoters of that view was Andrew Card, who often repeated it while serving as one of the most important public payroll employees on earth.
That aromatic tingle wafting into your living room is not a dead cat on the porch. It is today’s GOP.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:25 amCynicon, I suppose you must vigorously support Hillary Clinton’s right to break the law when she is President. Right? Because you have openly advocated here that Bush and the Republicans can break the law whenever it is to their partisan advantage.
Comment by VerbalKint
Sure. I expect every adiminstration to break laws. They are all crooks. Hillary’s track record is pretty strong on breaking laws and I wouldn’t expect her to change.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:28 amIf you do net Gonzo, check him for an adipose fin. He may be hatchery bred.
Comment by RUCerious
Heh, hilarious….
May 25th, 2007 at 11:37 amCynicon Implant,
What crimes has Hillary Clinton ever been convicted of?
May 25th, 2007 at 11:41 am#22 ~ Pretty much. How do you inform the Justice Department that they need to arrest themselves?
May 25th, 2007 at 12:00 pmThis was an EXTREMELY good article in the Chicago Tribune the other day.
For those of you who don’t know, the Tribune is tremendously conservative.
The author of the piece is a Republican Attorney General who was terminated when Clinton took office.
He despises what the administration and Gonzales have done to the DOJ.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/ news/ opinion/ chi-oped0524gonzomay24,0,2876879.story?coll=chi-newsopinioncommentary-hed
May 25th, 2007 at 12:18 pmGreg Palast has published emails from Rove explaining how they would “cage” voters and block their votes. A lot of these voters are soldiers in Baghdad. These are felony crimes. Don’t you think that Rove should be prosecuted?
May 25th, 2007 at 12:44 pmhttp://www.buzzflash.com/articles/interviews/061
I just love you guys.
You get so giddy when you think one of us may have been caught breaking the law and in you naive way of thinking, which is based on absolute right and wrong, you expect us to show remorse or guilt. WTF? We define what is right and wrong.
Lesson 1: It doesn’t matter if you break the law. Laws are for mugs and there’s no shame in breaking them whenever it benefits the cause.
Lesson 2. If you get caught breaking a law. Deny everything even if your denials make no sense. The bleeding heart liberals themselves built the system so that it protects the rights of the accused to a ridiculous extent. Take advantage of that.
Lesson 3. If you have to admit to any wrongdoings, make sure you’ve got immunity or another kind of a deal. The party is generous when it comes to covering the legal fees in exchange for loyalty.
Looks like Monica and DoJ have played it perfectly.
We keep breaking he law with impunity and looks like your pathetic “majority” in the House is not going to change anything.
The “would you give a democratic President these rights” is a stupid argument. Of course not. Do you really think that a Democratic President would enjoy the same privileges. Even if we’re still in minority in 2008, with our well oiled machinery, we’d get the necessary votes to overturn any such rights in a blink of an eye should a disaster like a dem President befall on this country.
May 25th, 2007 at 12:47 pmWe have our own Baath Party right here folks, it’s the Republican Party.
May 25th, 2007 at 12:59 pmI wonder how much Miss Goody paid for that cut and dye job?
Sorry, it’s been in the back of my mind for days….
May 25th, 2007 at 2:18 pm“and what, if anything, he knew about the role that politics played in hiring employees protected by civil service laws.â€
Who do you suppose told Monica to do what she did? I don’t think that blond bimbo came up with this scheme herself. Actually, I think that was one of the requirements the made on her when they hired her for the job. She is obviously unqualified for the job she held so she must have agreed to give them something in return for hiring her. And that something was doing the bidding of the AG and the President.
I think that Congress needs to charge Ms. Goodling with a crime. Then let’s see how fast she recalls all the things she couldn’t remember when she testified before Congress.
May 25th, 2007 at 2:18 pmDid anyone else notice that Monica G. looked like a better-looking version of Ann Coulter?
May 25th, 2007 at 11:37 pmMonica “didn’t mean” to try and facilitate the turn over our government to a bunch of christian fascist, she just wants us all to be able to go to heaven and be happy together.
jon
May 26th, 2007 at 2:04 amConnecting the dots: from human behaviors to ecosystem decline
http://StudentsForTheEarth.org
It can’t be. Can it ? I mean, it just can’t be real, right ? This dingbat is, gulp, running the Justice Department ? Oh, OK. I guess I understand. All the smart people in this administration are at the Pentagon right now. Check.
Well then I’ll just go on my merry way being a f___ckin dingbat citizen of this f__cking dingbat of a f__cking country.
Sorry for the outburst of frustration at on an outrageous level. Now, let me write a nice letter to my Congressman, someone who has been feeling the real wrath of at least this constituent.
May 28th, 2007 at 11:01 pm