Reply #26: WA POST: Dan Eggen, Amy Goldstein: Justice investigates former Gonzales aide

[L. Coyote]

Justice investigates former Gonzales aide
Inquiry into whether party was considered in hiring prosecutors
Dan Eggen, Amy Goldstein, Washington Post
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/03/MNGP5PJT541.DTL


(05-03) 04:00 PDT Washington -- The Justice Department has launched an internal investigation into whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former White House liaison illegally took party affiliation into account in hiring career federal prosecutors, officials said Wednesday.

The allegations against Monica Goodling represent a potential violation of federal law and signal that a joint probe begun in March by the department's inspector general and Office of Professional Responsibility has expanded beyond the controversial dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys last year.

The revelations about Goodling were among several developments Wednesday in connection with the prosecutor firings, including a new subpoena seeking presidential adviser Karl Rove's e-mails and new accusations from two of the dismissed U.S. attorneys.

In newly released statements, the two said they were threatened by Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty's chief of staff immediately before Gonzales testified in the Senate in January.

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