they can give "Monica" immunity to testify, she has to or she goes to jail for obstruction of justice

[sam sarrha]

they can give "Monica" immunity to testify, she has to or she goes to jail for obstruction of justic...

[pinkpops]

1. I thought about that but I seems like in the past the immunity

has always come from a prosecuting atty. Since there is no court case, there is no entity to grant immunity.

[H2O Man]

5. See this:

The cases of key Iran-contra figures Oliver North and John Poindexter underscore their worries: both were prosecuted and convicted by independent counsel Lawrence Walsh, but their convictions were overturned because Congress had granted them immunity in order to compel them to testify in the congressional investigation of the Reagan administration's arms-for-hostages deals.


http://www.oxfordpress.com/news/content/shared/news/nation/stories/07/01CIA_LEAK.html

[pinkpops]

9. mighty interesting - so if granted immunity the only thing she

would have to worry about is committing perjury before congress I suppose. And she can't be the biggest fish there is.

[H2O Man]

Right.

This is an interesting situation.

[sam sarrha]

7. a prosecution can be arraigned

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Could happen here too, but the 5th has to come first.

If she's got stuff they need, immunity will be coming. Too bad they can't immunize people against Bushco hit-men.

[whistle]

3. Does congress give immunity when they have no idea what this person may or may not have?

...If Monica Goodling has information representing the BushCo smoking gun, then by all means give her immunity and let the country hear her full testimony. But, if it is only Alberto Gonzales she has the goods on, I think there are ways to squeeze out the information without shielding her against prosecution. Any background on this young lady that would help understand where she fits in all this?

<on edit insert> Photos from a DoJ picnic showing Monica Goodling among others

http://www.regent.edu/alumni/chapters/washington_dc/DCPicnicPhotos.htm

<snip>
FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 2004
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
OPA
[phone]
TDD [phone]

STATEMENT OF MONICA GOODLING, JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN, ON THE SUPREME COURT'S DECISION TO HEAR THE HAMDI CASE:


http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2004/January/04_opa_009.htm

[Duer 157099]

4. Please tell me - what is she worried about incriminating herself for?

Destroying emails? Or what????

[H2O Man]

6. At least one

senior DoJ employee has told a senator that she and others told him incorrect things before he spoke to Congress.

[sam sarrha]

8. so maybe there is already a reason and some evidence

[H2O Man]

11. Yes.

Something large seems to be lurking just under the surface.

[Duer 157099]

10. And that's a crime?

What law is broken in doing this?

Incompetence maybe.

This is confusing

[kiahzero]

13. Lying under oath about a material fact is perjury (n/t)

[H2O Man]

14. Good question.

If a high-ranking official from the Justice Department feeds another person false information to provide in Congressional testimony, is that breaking a law? Or just incompetence?

[whistle]

12. I found this about where Monica Goodling got her law degree

<snip>
Regarding the significance of the decision of an aide to Alberto Gonzales to take the fifth and refuse to testify to Congress, a Democratic lawyer correspondent writes, "It means that the Griles plea agreement has had its intended effect: letting Bush Administration officials know they can and will be prosecuted for lying to Congress. This means Gonzales' departure from Justice is getting closer ... Republican Senators aren't going to like the spectacle of a former Justice Department official invoking the Fifth - and Senator Leahy will make her appear and take the Fifth." Of the aide, Monica Goodling, who has served as the Justice Department's liaison to the White House, the lawyer notes, "She's a graduate of Regent University Law School in Virginia Beach - a law school that teaches law from a Christian perspective," accredited fairly recently, in 1996.

<snip>
March 23, 2007
WP: Gonzales aide Monica Goodling on leave. "The Justice Department also said yesterday that Monica Goodling, a senior counselor to Gonzales who worked closely with Sampson on the firings, took an indefinite personal leave from her job last Monday. A Justice official said she is still employed there but it is not clear when she will return."

E-mails contradict Gonzales claims he wasn't closely involved with firings. "Attorney General Alberto Gonzales approved plans to fire several U.S. attorneys in a November meeting, according to documents released Friday that contradict earlier claims that he was not closely involved in the dismissals. The Nov. 27 meeting, in which the attorney general and at least five top Justice Department officials participated, focused on a five-step plan for carrying out the firings of the prosecutors, Justice Department officials said late Friday."

More from the Post:

The hour-long November meeting in the attorney general's conference room included Gonzales, his deputy and four other senior Justice officials, including the Gonzales aide who coordinated the firings, Chief of Staff D. Kyle Sampson, records show.

The previously undisclosed meeting appears to conflict with a statement by Gonzales on March 13, when he told reporters he "was not involved in seeing any memos, was not involved in any discussions about what was going on" with the firings. He said all the details were left to Sampson, who has since resigned and who agreed yesterday to testify in the Senate.

Didn't another administration offiicial plead guilty today to lying to Congress? More from the NYT. "Department officials said that the participants at the only formal meeting known to have been held to discuss the firings included Mr. Gonzales; Paul J. McNulty, the deputy attorney general; Mr. Sampson; Monica Goodling, the department liaison to the White House; William Moschella, the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs; and Michael A. Battle, then head of the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys. Mr. Battle has since resigned, and Ms. Goodling has taken a temporary leave of absence."

This from the WP interesting too: "The documents released last night include more details about the extent of White House involvement in the firings. They show, for example, that a public affairs officer at the White House knew about the imminent dismissals before Scolinos, the chief Justice public affairs officer, learned about them on Nov. 17."

http://www.warandpiece.com/