House Dems to Question DoJ Officials in PrivateThe House Judiciary Committee has worked out an agreement to have transcribed interviews with at least eight current and former employees of the Justice Department behind closed doors. The committee said that the deal followed a series of phone and written negotiations.
The first interview will be today with Michael Elston, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty’s chief of staff. Following will be interviews with McNulty, Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis; the former director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys Michael Battle; Monica Goodling, the DOJ’s liaison to the White House (now on leave); acting Associate Attorney General William Mercer; and Assistant Attorney General William Moschella. Goodling, of course, has already said that she’d plead the Fifth. Congressional interviews are typically not under oath, but false statements are prosecutable (just ask David Safavian and Steven Griles).
Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and the other leaders have agreed that “investigators would keep the content of the interviews confidential pending consultation with Department officials.” It’s not clear when or if such a release might come, or if the interviews will be followed by open hearings.