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It "Just Snowballed into A Not Good Situation"
How do senior Justice Department officials end up giving false testimony to Congress? Well, it's complicated, Goodling testified. But first you start answering one question, then you get another question, and then you get another and then all of a sudden people were answering questions that they didn't have answers for. "It just snowballed into a not good situation."
Goodling also testified here under questioning from Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) about making sure that Republicans were hired in certain career Justice Department positions, including detail positions in main Justice and immigration judges. But there was nothing nefarious in this, she said, she just wanted to make sure that people on the leadership team were "on the same page in terms of philosophy." She also said that there were other, "bizarre cases." It's not clear what she was talking about.
Comments (44)
Books Alive wrote on May 23, 2007 1:24 PM:Could posters please give your comment a minute or two to come up? These duplicate posts are a waste of good TPM space.
nolo wrote on May 23, 2007 1:24 PM:Is it too much to expect these people to talk like adults?
counter-coulter wrote on May 23, 2007 1:29 PM:"It just snowballed into a not good situation."
Wow, that Regent U. vocabulary is really shining through in her testimony. It'll be interesting to hear her admit that breaking the law was "not a good thing".
monicasbrain wrote on May 23, 2007 1:35 PM:
TheraP wrote on May 23, 2007 1:36 PM:There were like these questions and then like some other questions and then some answers and some other answers that weren't like as good as the first answers and sometimes like it's hard to tell the questions from the answers cuz like when people talk to you it's not the same as when you read where they put like those little thingee marks at the end that like let you know its a question. Do you like lip gloss?
it's like existentialist theater of the absurd!
blair wrote on May 23, 2007 1:38 PM:Doesn't she mean 'ungood'?
Anonymous wrote on May 23, 2007 1:40 PM:I especially liked Pence R(Indiana) making the comment that she went to a (paraphrasing) 'much better christian school than I did'. WOW! There's something to brag about!
Dick (no, not that one) wrote on May 23, 2007 1:44 PM:So, like it's always tough when you answer a question with a lie, and someone figures it out so then you have to come up with a new lie and then you have to come up with another lie to cover up those lies and then it just kind of snowballs because nobody can remember the first 18 lies, and, like, it's always ungood.
Jane wrote on May 23, 2007 1:47 PM:Once she figured out that you needed really birght lawyers who were well qualified she should have fired herself. On the basis of lack of experience if for nothing else.
TheraP wrote on May 23, 2007 1:52 PM:no-goodling
Sandra Wiley wrote on May 23, 2007 2:05 PM:What is the grade schedule for Justice Dept employees--GS or other? It is quite a feat to be promoted 4-5 times in 4-5 years.
Bonnie wrote on May 23, 2007 2:17 PM:I worked for the Federal Govt for 25 years and retired out of the VP's offices and promotions were nothing like that.
Snowballing into not a good situation is what happens when you LIE. I thought Christians weren't supposed to lie.
Ken Joe wrote on May 23, 2007 2:17 PM:This is turning into a snooze fest. Either the Dems are bungling the hearing or there is nothing there. Anyone have the remote control?
Jane Michener wrote on May 23, 2007 2:19 PM:Unkindest Cut: One third-year student(AT REGENT LAW SCHOOL), Chamie Riley , said she rejected the idea that any government official who invokes her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination could be a good representative of Regent.
As Christians, she said, Regent students know "you should be morally upright. You should not be in a situation where you have to plead the Fifth."
shipwreckedcrew wrote on May 23, 2007 2:31 PM:© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
DOJ spots are GS positions. US Attorneys are SES (Senior Executive Service), and Assistant US Attorneys are paid under the AD (Administratively Determined) pay scale -- similar to GS, but different. The principle difference is that AUSAs are not covered by civil service protections, and their salaries are set by the administration, not by GS rules. But, the practice has been that the AD rates generally follow the GS rates.
The DOJ Career spots are GS -- the political positions like Goodling's job and other staff positions, are fixed salaries.
The GS pay scale is largely pegged to experience, and promotion. The staff positions are not. Someone like Goodling, with only 5 years post-law school experience, would only be a GS-13 if she were in a career slot. Her max salary would probably be in the range of $70,000 to $100,000 -- but probably towards the lower end of that range.
But, in a staff position, her salary was probably $120,000+.
Davis X. machina wrote on May 23, 2007 2:33 PM:Doesn't she mean 'ungood'?
Posted by: blair
Date: May 23, 2007 01:38 PM
Hey, blair! Your first name wouldn't be 'Eric', now would it?
Anonymous wrote on May 23, 2007 2:33 PM:now that was good...who is paying for your legal defence!!! she wants to set up a legal defense fund!
Jack Amff...and her have something in common
Anonymous wrote on May 23, 2007 2:40 PM:If I recall my Orwell correctly, "ungood" is new-speak for bad. As in,"++ ungood."
Sally wrote on May 23, 2007 2:42 PM:Good God, she sounds as dumb as a box of rocks.
I love that this poor excuse for an attorney "didn't mean to break any laws".
Legalize wrote on May 23, 2007 2:50 PM:"[A] not good situation." I love it.
Jim wrote on May 23, 2007 2:51 PM:Isn't it time for OSHA to look into whether there's lead paint or asbestos or carbon monoxide or something in the air over at the DoJ building? Because a distressing percentage of the employees there that I've seen testify recently seem to be suffering from significant neurological deficits in terms of memory and articulation.
Hugh Jorgan wrote on May 23, 2007 2:52 PM:I am sure she is nice young woman, but putting young people like this with neglible experience and questionable qualifications in positions of authority at the Department of Justice is an insult to all Americans.
The performance of this administration is incompetent at best ... and at its worst, criminal!
lilybart wrote on May 23, 2007 2:54 PM:"Questions they didn't have answers for"???
Either you tell the truth or you just actually don't know. She is admitting that they didn't have time to figure out which lies they should all tell.
lilybart wrote on May 23, 2007 2:55 PM:"Questions they didn't have answers for"???
Either you tell the truth or you just actually don't know. She is admitting that they didn't have time to figure out which lies they should all tell.
JohnN wrote on May 23, 2007 2:57 PM:I'm having as much fun as anyone with the 'legally blond' jokes, but I think that pretending to be stupid is a strategy to avoid being seen as evil. It's actually a pretty smart strategy. So we think Bush and AG Gonzo are just stupid - when in fact they are intentionally doing bad things to us.
Shorter Monica wrote on May 23, 2007 3:01 PM:We didn't prepare to intentionally mislead Congress, but we prepared a bunch of stock responses to mislead you guys, but it didn't work because you guys asked us a whole bunch of hard questions. We failed in that, we weren't successful at misleading you.
glennpdx wrote on May 23, 2007 3:02 PM:Can we just get to the part where indictments get handed out? How many versions of 'send in the clowns' do we have to endure?
Anonymous wrote on May 23, 2007 3:03 PM:JohnN...
"I'm having as much fun as anyone with the 'legally blond' jokes, but I think that pretending to be stupid is a strategy to avoid being seen as evil."
Hey...I am a blond...she is playing that card well!
Fishbones wrote on May 23, 2007 3:03 PM:Goodlatte's response of "Sure" to Goodling's drivel made me laugh out loud.
Anonymous wrote on May 23, 2007 3:05 PM:JohnN...In fact I too am an attorney, and it can work for you in many legal situations...but I know I
Anonymous wrote on May 23, 2007 3:10 PM:have to work much harder to convey my message!
Schiff...is using good trial techniques in his questions, notice the last word he uses..."is that correct" or "is that right" or "would you agree"
She is having trouble understanding the line of questioning from schiff! because of the techniques
that good
kmsor wrote on May 23, 2007 3:10 PM:How do graduates from the law school Monica attended manage to pass the bar?
Okay, I can't help myself . . .
How do you spell bimbo?
tompaine wrote on May 23, 2007 3:13 PM:I have checked the Virginia and other state records and can find no evidence that Kyle Sampson was ever admitted to the bar in Virginia or elsewhere. Could it be that he has never passed a bar exam? How about Monica?
shipwreckedcrew wrote on May 23, 2007 3:22 PM:I think Sampson practiced law in Utah before coming to work for Hatch in DC.
DOJ attorneys only have to be a member in good standing of a bar association in one state -- any state -- not DC or Virginia. If Sampson is admitted to the bar in Utah, he can serve as a DOJ attorney anywhere.
Goodling did pass the bar in Virginia.
wtf wrote on May 23, 2007 3:53 PM:serving the bush admin in a variety of positions
sercurity code: west -- where the sun sets
Largo wrote on May 23, 2007 4:06 PM:not good = ungood = f---ed up.
Quite amazing to listen to these Republican turd polishers pat her on the back.
It all will lead back to Rove, eventually.
Anonymous wrote on May 23, 2007 4:34 PM:Rome is burning!
Anonymous wrote on May 23, 2007 4:37 PM:"How do graduates from the law school Monica attended manage to pass the bar?"
Well to be fair, passing the Bar has nothing to do with law school or one's capacities as a lawyer. Plus, she probably took the D.C. Bar, which is one of the easiest.
That said, I know a number of absolute bone-heads who passed the NY Bar, and it's one of the toughest. Good thing for me, they don't test spelling.
mouth wrote on May 23, 2007 4:40 PM:I agree with Ken Joe.
"This is turning into a snooze fest. Either the Dems are bungling the hearing or there is nothing there. Anyone have the remote control?"
If the Dems don't get to the drum roll quick, the greater American public will tune out and Buhies' strategy prevails by wearing out the legs on this.
ralph489 wrote on May 23, 2007 4:44 PM:"How do graduates from the law school Monica attended manage to pass the bar?"
They don't (at least not when she went there), unless they get help from God Himself.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but can't she be tried for these crimes, if the Congress were to find other evidence?
nattyb wrote on May 23, 2007 6:50 PM:she's not even articulate... and to think, she was the number 3 or 4 at the DOJ. Not exactly the brightest and best.
CuttingThroughTheMatrix.net wrote on May 23, 2007 7:23 PM:"Ideologically Compatible"
Duckman GR wrote on May 24, 2007 1:11 AM:And the Democrats can't beat the Republican party that's manned by so many people like this chick?
L wrote on May 24, 2007 7:29 AM:I have to say I had a really hard time watching most of this. The Dem questioners have been, pretty much terrible. Can't one of them establish some basic facts?
Are you a lawyer? what was your position? what was your role? how do you judge your performance in that role? Give her the choice of saying she's an idiot or dishonest, she'll have to pick one.
As far as this particular clip goes, listen to Goodlatte's (A Republican for heaven's sake)first question:
"Did you ever in anyway intend to mislead Congress through any of your activities in preparing the people who have testified?"
And her non-response: "No, I never deliberately withheld information." That's not what was asked, The question is not did you withhold info, but did you set out to lie. Did any other questions ask a pertinent follow-up?