http://rawstory.com/news/2007/House_Dems_Goodling_has_no_basis_0403.html

Tuesday April 3, 2007

House Democrats: White House liaison has no right to plead Fifth

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/House_Dems_Goodling_has_no_basis_0403.html

Tuesday April 3, 2007 =20

House Democrats: White House liaison has no right to plead Fifth

Michael Roston

House Democrats leading the investigation of the firing of eight US
Attorneys are questioning the legal strategy of a top Justice
Department official.

Monica Goodling, who serves as liaison to the White House, hopes to
avoid providing testimony ordered through a subpoena by invoking her
Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

However, in a letter sent to her attorney today and acquired by RAW
STORY, Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) and Linda S=E1nchez (D-CA) suggest that
Goodling doesn't have a basis to invoke that right, and, therefore,
she shouldn't be exempted from testifying before the House Judiciary
Committee.

"We are concerned that several of the asserted grounds for refusing to
testify do not satisfy the well-established bases for a proper
invocation of the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination," the two
Democrats on the Judiciary Committee wrote.

"The Fifth Amendment privilege, under long-standing Supreme Court
precedents, does not provide a reason to fail to appear to testify;
the privilege must be invoked by the witness on a question-by-question
basis."

Goodling, who is on leave from her position as the Justice
Department's White House Liaison, informed both the Senate and House
Judiciary Committees in recent weeks that she would invoke her rights
against self-incrimination if called to testify concerning her role in
the US Attorneys matter.

Conyers and S=E1nchez said that Goodling's concerns were not valid.

"The fact that a few Senators and Members of the House have expressed
publicly their doubts about the credibility of the Attorney General
and the Deputy Attorney General in their representations to Congress
about the U.S. Attorneys' termination does not in any way excuse your
client from answering questions honestly and to the best of her
ability," Conyers and S=E1nchez explained.

They were particularly critical of Goodling's concerns about finding
herself in a situation comparable to former White House staff members
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and David Safavian, whom were both convicted
of assorted crimes during the course of the Bush administration.

"Both of those individuals, former high-ranking officials in the Bush
Administration, were found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by juries
of their peers, in cases brought by Presidentially appointed U.S.
Attorneys, of knowingly and intentionally lying or providing false
information primarily to Executive branch agents or officials," the
two Democrats wrote. "If her testimony is truthful, she will have
nothing to worry about in terms of a perjury prosecution."

The House Democrats are asking Goodling to promptly agree to speak
with the Committee in order to provide "justification" for her
intended defense.

"We write to request that your client, Ms. Goodling, voluntarily
appear to be interviewed by our staff in the next week and to discuss
the justification for her apparent decision to invoke her Fifth
Amendment privilege," they wrote.

__________________________________________

OK, now let's get her ***** in the hot seat.

Harry

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/House_Dems_Goodling_has_no_basis_0403.html

Tuesday April 3, 2007 =20

House Democrats: White House liaison has no right to plead Fifth

Michael Roston

House Democrats leading the investigation of the firing of eight US
Attorneys are questioning the legal strategy of a top Justice
Department official.

Monica Goodling, who serves as liaison to the White House, hopes to
avoid providing testimony ordered through a subpoena by invoking her
Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

However, in a letter sent to her attorney today and acquired by RAW
STORY, Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) and Linda S=E1nchez (D-CA) suggest that
Goodling doesn't have a basis to invoke that right, and, therefore,
she shouldn't be exempted from testifying before the House Judiciary
Committee.

"We are concerned that several of the asserted grounds for refusing to
testify do not satisfy the well-established bases for a proper
invocation of the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination," the two
Democrats on the Judiciary Committee wrote.

"The Fifth Amendment privilege, under long-standing Supreme Court
precedents, does not provide a reason to fail to appear to testify;
the privilege must be invoked by the witness on a question-by-question
basis."

Goodling, who is on leave from her position as the Justice
Department's White House Liaison, informed both the Senate and House
Judiciary Committees in recent weeks that she would invoke her rights
against self-incrimination if called to testify concerning her role in
the US Attorneys matter.

Conyers and S=E1nchez said that Goodling's concerns were not valid.

"The fact that a few Senators and Members of the House have expressed
publicly their doubts about the credibility of the Attorney General
and the Deputy Attorney General in their representations to Congress
about the U.S. Attorneys' termination does not in any way excuse your
client from answering questions honestly and to the best of her
ability," Conyers and S=E1nchez explained.

They were particularly critical of Goodling's concerns about finding
herself in a situation comparable to former White House staff members
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and David Safavian, whom were both convicted
of assorted crimes during the course of the Bush administration.

"Both of those individuals, former high-ranking officials in the Bush
Administration, were found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by juries
of their peers, in cases brought by Presidentially appointed U.S.
Attorneys, of knowingly and intentionally lying or providing false
information primarily to Executive branch agents or officials," the
two Democrats wrote. "If her testimony is truthful, she will have
nothing to worry about in terms of a perjury prosecution."

The House Democrats are asking Goodling to promptly agree to speak
with the Committee in order to provide "justification" for her
intended defense.

"We write to request that your client, Ms. Goodling, voluntarily
appear to be interviewed by our staff in the next week and to discuss
the justification for her apparent decision to invoke her Fifth
Amendment privilege," they wrote.

__________________________________________

OK, now let's get her ***** in the hot seat.

Harry

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/House_Dems_Goodling_has_no_basis_0403.html

Tuesday April 3, 2007

House Democrats: White House liaison has no right to plead Fifth

Michael Roston


House Democrats leading the investigation of the firing of eight US
Attorneys are questioning the legal strategy of a top Justice
Department official.

Monica Goodling, who serves as liaison to the White House, hopes to
avoid providing testimony ordered through a subpoena by invoking her
Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

However, in a letter sent to her attorney today and acquired by RAW
STORY, Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) and Linda Sánchez (D-CA) suggest that
Goodling doesn't have a basis to invoke that right, and, therefore,
she shouldn't be exempted from testifying before the House Judiciary
Committee.

"We are concerned that several of the asserted grounds for refusing to
testify do not satisfy the well-established bases for a proper
invocation of the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination," the two
Democrats on the Judiciary Committee wrote.

"The Fifth Amendment privilege, under long-standing Supreme Court
precedents, does not provide a reason to fail to appear to testify;
the privilege must be invoked by the witness on a question-by-question
basis."

Goodling, who is on leave from her position as the Justice
Department's White House Liaison, informed both the Senate and House
Judiciary Committees in recent weeks that she would invoke her rights
against self-incrimination if called to testify concerning her role in
the US Attorneys matter.

Conyers and Sánchez said that Goodling's concerns were not valid.

"The fact that a few Senators and Members of the House have expressed
publicly their doubts about the credibility of the Attorney General
and the Deputy Attorney General in their representations to Congress
about the U.S. Attorneys' termination does not in any way excuse your
client from answering questions honestly and to the best of her
ability," Conyers and Sánchez explained.

They were particularly critical of Goodling's concerns about finding
herself in a situation comparable to former White House staff members
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and David Safavian, whom were both convicted
of assorted crimes during the course of the Bush administration.

"Both of those individuals, former high-ranking officials in the Bush
Administration, were found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by juries
of their peers, in cases brought by Presidentially appointed U.S.
Attorneys, of knowingly and intentionally lying or providing false
information primarily to Executive branch agents or officials," the
two Democrats wrote. "If her testimony is truthful, she will have
nothing to worry about in terms of a perjury prosecution."

The House Democrats are asking Goodling to promptly agree to speak
with the Committee in order to provide "justification" for her
intended defense.

"We write to request that your client, Ms. Goodling, voluntarily
appear to be interviewed by our staff in the next week and to discuss
the justification for her apparent decision to invoke her Fifth
Amendment privilege," they wrote.

__________________________________________

OK, now let's get her ***** in the hot seat.

Harry