Goodling Rejected ‘Outstanding’ Attorney’s Job Extension Because Of ‘Inappropriate’ Gay Relationship
Goodling Rejected ‘Outstanding’ Attorney’s Job Extension Because Of ‘Inappropriate’ Gay Relationship
In April, NPR reported that the Justice Department Inspector General was investigating whether former DOJ White House liaison Monica Goodling dismissed a career DOJ attorney “because of rumors that she is a lesbian.”
Today’s Office of Professional Responsibility report confirms that Goodling, a graduate of Pat Robertson’s Regent University, did discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. In the case described by the report, Goodling stalled an assistant U.S. attorney’s advancement because of rumors of a gay relationship with her superior, a U.S. attorney.
As the report notes, the assistant U.S. attorney (AUSA) received “outstanding” performance reviews, the highest possible rating, and was subsequently granted a work extension in 2006. Goodling, however, opposed it. Deputy Director John Nowacki, who supported the extension, described a meeting with Goodling:
Goodling brought up the issue of the attorney’s “relationship in progress” with her U.S. Attorney “and made it clear just that she thought that was inappropriate.”
Several other officials report witnessing the same discrimination from Goodling. When Executive Office for U.S. Attorney Associate Counsel Natalie Voris told Goodling she supported the extension, Goodling “responded that Voris did not know the AUSA as well as she thought she did“:
Voris said that Goodling then told her that the [assistant U.S. attorney] had a homosexual relationship with the U.S. Attorney in the AUSA’s USAO and that the two took trips together at government expense. Voris told us she believes that the AUSA’s alleged sexual orientation was a factor in Goodling’s decision not to extend the detail.
Furthermore, when the assistant U.S. attorney sought a detail in the Office of Violence Against Women, Goodling objected “because it would look like the Department was sanctioning the homosexual relationship.”
The OIG report also implicates Michael Battle, a key figure in the US. Attorney scandal, for sitting on the sidelines. Battle “should have raised concerns about Goodling’s actions with Goodling’s supervisor, Kyle Sampson, the OIG [Office of Inspector General], or OPR,” the report states.
“We concluded that Goodling’s actions violated Department policy and federal law, and constituted misconduct,” the report adds. Both the assistant U.S. attorney and the U.S. attorney denied the relationship.
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She seems like a hateful fall gal for someone higher up, i.e., Vice President Face of Evil.
July 28th, 2008 at 1:51 pmThis brainless bim should be taught a lesson ; any Chimpy administration flunky should be made homeless for the rest of their useless existences …………
July 28th, 2008 at 1:52 pm…Monica Goodling dismissed a career DOJ attorney “because of rumors that she is a lesbian.”
Yet another example of ideology trumping competence.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
July 28th, 2008 at 1:52 pmMethinks Ms Goodling is going to be in jail for a very long time.
July 28th, 2008 at 1:53 pmMaybe she was actually jealous and this was her way of getting revenge.
July 28th, 2008 at 1:53 pmGood grief. Kool-aide swilling bimbette twirling her hair…
July 28th, 2008 at 1:53 pm.
Hey,
She’s blond, she’s white, she’s Aryan…
… Surprised?
.
July 28th, 2008 at 1:54 pmAny limits to this immunity?
July 28th, 2008 at 1:55 pmRUCerious Says:
Methinks Ms Goodling is going to be in jail for a very long time.
Well, she should go to jail for her illegal actions. However, our “impeachment is off the table” congress granted her immunity in exchange for her (useless) testimony.
PEACE
July 28th, 2008 at 1:55 pmSad thing is, she may be the most successful alumni from Regent.
July 28th, 2008 at 1:56 pmOr is it alumus?
July 28th, 2008 at 1:57 pmThe Chimpy Administration
Where the most useless critters are charged with some of the most important decisions ; do you GOP backing yo-yos see how absurd and incompetent the last 7+ years have been yet ?
July 28th, 2008 at 1:57 pmWhoops, alumnus.
July 28th, 2008 at 1:58 pmMcWars Says:
Or is it alumus?
July 28th, 2008 at 1:57 pm Recommend (0) | Report Abuse
A mule. For carrying water.
July 28th, 2008 at 1:58 pmnew york city!?
get a rope!
July 28th, 2008 at 1:59 pmThey have some nerve calling Regent or Liberty “universities”
July 28th, 2008 at 2:00 pmSo this idiot staffed the administration with imcompetent people routinelly?
July 28th, 2008 at 2:00 pmWell, she couldn’t possibly be expected to do her job if it contradicts her personal beliefs. That would be like expecting pharmacists to honor prescriptions for birth control.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:03 pmI hate to be the one to bring up references to NAZI Germany, but really, that’s the only parallel that comes to mind when I learn the details of how Loayal Bushies operate.
It was her testimony that she took an oath to Bush, not to the Constitution, but to Bush. We all thought it was a mistake, but now I believe that she truly took an oath to Bush.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:03 pmWell, it’s also rumored that Perino is a bimbo. Can we fire her as well? You know, based all on a rumor.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:07 pm.
FOXPRAVDA has a new reporter…
.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:08 pmPhoto caption:
(off camera) “Please be patient, Mr. Chairman, while the Goodling Wingnut, Model 666 activates itself and powers up”.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:11 pmKyle F’n Sampson.
Remember the name, deceit was his game.
Goodling is being set up to take the fall, but Sampson was the one pulling the strings from behind the curtain.
He still refuses to talk. This is the one we must make an example of.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:14 pmThis Republican fluffer is the most hacktastic bimbo in the entire country.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:16 pmMCMetal Says: “…any Chimpy administration flunky should be made homeless for the rest of their useless existences…”
I would change your suggestion somewhat: All members, from the lowest flunkies to the main flunkies (Dick (Not because his name is Richard) and George WTF), should be given a permanent home deep in the heart of Kansas for the rest of their useless existences.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:19 pmGee, a blonde bimbo from christo-phasist Regent University acting in an anti-gay matter? Don’t tell VP Richard Cheney or his gay daughter…
O/T: the new search engine, cuil.com does have a few shortcomings: it could not find any hits on my TP screen name, Oval12345678, nor on my full name… Hint: turn off the safe search (default is ON) and you will get many more regular (i.e., non-porn) hits on searches…
July 28th, 2008 at 2:21 pmAs much as I am appalled by Monica Goodling’s hiring system, and as much as I agree with most of the posters here, I’d just like to point out one small thing.
If the DoJ attorney WAS having an inappropriate relationship with her superior, I can see how that might be a factor in her dismissal, no matter whether the relationship was a gay one or a straight one. Intimate relationships can create conflicts of interest if the two people are also involved in a work relationship where one person is a direct report to the other. Most employers have rules about this just to avoid that scenario.
That said, NOBODY should lose their job merely because of “rumor”. Good heavens, Bush and Cheney are allowed to keep their jobs even though there’s a lot more than mere “rumor” against them.
The other offensive aspect of all this is Goodling’s concern about the appearance of the DoJ sanctioning a homosexual relationship. This pretty much indicates that the gayness was the issue here, not the relationship itself. Meaning that if one of the people here was a male and they were screwing around on the job, that would have been OK?
July 28th, 2008 at 2:23 pmHoly rollers suck. Period.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:24 pmAbsolutely right, missmolly.
There seems to be little doubt that Ms. Goodling is a bigot and a homophobe. But it’s not clear if her actions in this case were unjustified, or based on sexual bigotry.
Still, she’d better hope that her immunity is iron-clad.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:27 pm#27.
I think you’re absolutely correct, and it shows just how truly stupid these people are:
They had a legitamate reason (inappropriate relationship with superior) for dismissal, reassignment, etc., but chose to focus on the sexual orientation aspect, clearly a violation of law.
Typical Republiscum wingnuts: obsessed with the genitals of others and how they use them. Simple as that.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:28 pmmisshusseinmolly Says:
——————————————————————————–
As much as I am appalled by Monica Goodling’s hiring system, and as much as I agree with most of the posters here, I’d just like to point out one small thing.
If the DoJ attorney WAS having an inappropriate relationship with her superior, I can see how that might be a factor in her dismissal, no matter whether the relationship was a gay one or a straight one. Intimate relationships can create conflicts of interest if the two people are also involved in a work relationship where one person is a direct report to the other. Most employers have rules about this just to avoid that scenario.
That said, NOBODY should lose their job merely because of “rumor”. Good heavens, Bush and Cheney are allowed to keep their jobs even though there’s a lot more than mere “rumor” against them.
The other offensive aspect of all this is Goodling’s concern about the appearance of the DoJ sanctioning a homosexual relationship. This pretty much indicates that the gayness was the issue here, not the relationship itself. Meaning that if one of the people here was a male and they were screwing around on the job, that would have been OK?
July 28th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Ummm
It was the empty headed Retard University graduate , Goodling , who viewed/deemed the relationship “inappropriate” ; whether the ‘rumor’ was true or not seems immaterial to me.No one else was quoted as believing or judging that about the relationship (if there was even one to begin with)
Who the hell is Goodling to determine anything , anyway ?
She isn’t even qualified or skilled enough to sell Girl Scout cookies……
July 28th, 2008 at 2:32 pmA woman named Goodling said “Hey!
July 28th, 2008 at 2:35 pmYou can’t serve in this DOJ,
If you don’t have a crush
on President Bush
or if you’re a Dem or you’re gay!”
It’s a simple plan. Give immunity, or pardons, to people willing to take the fall.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:35 pmI pray for the poetic irony of the day when Monica discovers that her husband is a closet gay Democrat.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:44 pmThere’s something unsettling about the Bushies calling ANYTHING inappropriate.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:47 pmWhat’s to stop the DOJ from indicting a number of the criminal Bushies now so that Bush can pardon them when he leaves office. Aren’t they likely to cut a plea bargain agreement to tell all the truth and name all the names? Are the little guys likely to go down without claiming that they were just following the orders of the big guys? I think the Bush administration has bigger reasons to want these people indicted and pardoned than they have to allow them to go to trial.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:48 pmI would have to wash myself off in a port-a-potti just to feel clean after dealing with her.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:50 pmMCMetal Says
July 28th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Who the hell is Goodling to determine anything , anyway ?
____________________________________________________________
I think that’s exactly what has a lot of people scratching their heads…the apparent unchecked unitary power she had to hire and fire at the DoJ would be unheard of in any company bigger than a mom-and-pop out here in the private sector.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:52 pmcan her immunity be revoked? And how about her license to practice law–if she has one?
July 28th, 2008 at 3:03 pmWhat exactly is Monica Goodwench going to do when these people start slapping her happy ass with civil lawsuits?
July 28th, 2008 at 3:03 pmOT
July 28th, 2008 at 3:07 pmThe projected budget deficit is $490 billion, but it does not include the $80 billion being spent in Iraq, to which the Congress mandated that Bush not exclude!
The actual budget deficit is $570 billion.
The repugs are already claiming that the potential depression in our future will be caused by an Obama administration!
Let me emphasize in the above story that the attorney was rejected because of a ***RUMOR*** that they were lesbian.
The height of McCarthyism. You don’t like your coworker, start a rumor about them. Or better yet, tell the military that they are terrorists and collect a reward to boot. Do it subtly enough, and you can’t even be sued for libel or slander.
And I’m not saying my boss is collecting yellow-cake uranium and aluminum tubing. Nope, didn’t see that in his cellar at all. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
(as opposed to the neocon – we have incontrovertable evidence that Iraq….)
July 28th, 2008 at 3:08 pmWhat are the requirements for admission to Regents?
1. Do you hate?
July 28th, 2008 at 3:12 pma. Blacks
b. Liberals
c. Muslims
d. anyone who may thinks differently from this institute
e. all of the above
(hint: choose e)
A thread at TPMMuckraker says that Gonzo’s atty states that this new report proves that Gonzo is in the clear and did not know what was being done in the name of his office. Hot damn these Repugs love them some plausible deniability don’t they? Install an unqualified ultra conservative religious flunky(check). Give her unprecidented hiring/firing powers(check). Allow her to run amok through the ept. hiring and firing attys left and right and replacing an unprecidented number of AGs mid-term(check and check). If Congress comes a knockin refer to “Hogan’s Hero’s” Schultzy Defense(I see nothing! I here nothing!). If all else fails claim amnesia(I don’t recall that).
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/report_confirms_gonzales_hands.php
This Administration makes me physically sick to my stomach.
July 28th, 2008 at 3:24 pmAnd so go the devoutly religious. Monica just happened to worship our little woodenhead president.
I don’t care what else happens to her just as long as she does jail time.
July 28th, 2008 at 3:43 pmAll you have to do work for Bush’s White House is be a knuckle-dragging ignoramous. Nice.
July 28th, 2008 at 3:51 pmGoodling committed perjury, but she was granted immunity in advance.
July 28th, 2008 at 4:05 pmAwww. and she just got married, too. Looks like she’s gonna be spending some of her newlywed-ed-ness in the slammer if this is proved to be true.
July 28th, 2008 at 4:39 pmLet her learn all about lesbian love in a Federal prison cell…
July 28th, 2008 at 5:10 pmRegent University….
A school owned by Pat Robertson. She was not even close to being qualified for the position she held.What a joke!
She went to messiah university for her undergrad.
The arrogance of this administration is outrageous.
July 28th, 2008 at 6:14 pmGoodling brought up the issue of the attorney’s “relationship in progress” with her U.S. Attorney “and made it clear just that she thought that was inappropriate.”
Instead of disclosing this stuff years later, if more people had the simple moral backbone to answer “So what? Her relationship is none of your business” to that sort of crap, the less problems later on. Folks simply have to say ’sorry, you’ve crossed a line you cannot cross’, rather than demurring.
July 28th, 2008 at 6:49 pmWell, Goodling was a regular Michael Brown — clearly not hired on the basis of merit and, like Brown, completely out of her league in the job she held.
The next question is, why has there been no accountability for the hiring of totally unqualified people? Is the whold damn Bush administration nothing but a patronage paradise? It is so easy to see why Bush is the worst President ever.
July 28th, 2008 at 6:58 pmShe is a graduate from Pat Robertson’s university law school. Next time you want to find out how many lawyers in the Justice Department are graduates from that school go online.
You don’t have to know anything. Just be conservative.
She is stupid. And her example is a good one for birth control. Some day this bimbo will marry a like minded goof, and they will BREED. They will breed little Pat Robertsons or miniature Bushs. Which will serve them right. But what about us? Haven’t we suffered enough?
July 28th, 2008 at 7:22 pmWhen will Goodling have to face the bar?
July 28th, 2008 at 7:58 pmPakaal – unfortunately, unless one has incontrovertible truth (and even then), saying no to this type gets one immediately fired.
July 28th, 2008 at 8:54 pmToday’s Office of Professional Responsibility report confirms that Goodling, a graduate of Pat Robertson’s Regent University, did discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. In the case described by the report, Goodling stalled an assistant U.S. attorney’s advancement because of rumors of a gay relationship with her superior, a U.S. attorney.
“We concluded that Goodling’s actions violated Department policy and federal law”
Ok people, can anyone tell me why Monica is not in Federal Jail right now?
Troubled
July 29th, 2008 at 8:05 pmJust like the cold war when everyone who didn’t agree with the U.S. was either a communist or a communist sympathizer. toki This poor crazy guy spent half a decade being tortured because a bunch
of stupid politicians araç sorgulama were sure the NVA
was in bed with the Russians (minimal help) and/or the Chinese (ancient enemy of the vietnamese). ssk sorgulama You would think he would have learned from others’
mistakes. Guess not. Republicans need an enemy. key ödemeleri This
century it apparently will be all Muslims, health all of whom must
be alQaeda operatives.
February 28th, 2009 at 7:58 pm