Monica Goodling

Goodling is a 1991 graduate of Northeastern High School in Manchester, Pennsylvania, and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1995 from Messiah College. After completing her bachelor's degree, Goodling started her legal education at American University.{{cite news |first = Alan |last = Cooperman |title = Bush Loyalist Rose Quickly at Justice |url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/29/AR2007032901964.html |newspaper = Washington Post |page = A15 |date = March 30, 2007 |access-date = 2007-04-26}} Deeply religious and politically conservative, she later transferred to Pat Robertson's Regent University School of Law, where she received her Juris Doctor degree in 1999.nytimes.com, May 12, 2007, Colleagues Cite Partisan Focus by Justice Official by ERIC LIPTON,[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/12/washington/12monica.html?hp]

Goodling worked with Tim Griffin as an opposition researcher for the Republican National Committee during the 2000 presidential campaign. She joined the Department of Justice's press office after George W. Bush became president. She moved to the department's executive office, which is responsible for budgeting, management, personnel management and evaluation, later becoming deputy director of the executive office.{{cite news | first=Eric | last=Lipton | title=Colleagues Cite Partisan Focus by Justice Official | date=May 12, 2007 | url =https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/12/washington/12monica.html?hp | work =New York Times | access-date = 2007-05-12 }} Goodling was hired by U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan to work in the executive office.{{cite news |author=Jerome L. Serman and Paula Reed Ward | title= House, Senate aides quiz Buchanan on firings| date= June 16, 2007 | publisher= Pittsburgh Post Gazette| url= http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07167/794643-85.stm}}

Less than a year later, Goodling moved again, to the Attorney General’s office, working as the White House liaison. According to David Ayres, senior chief of staff to Attorney General John Ashcroft, "She was the embodiment of a hardworking young conservative who believed strongly in the president and his mission". According to Bud Cummins, one of the fired prosecutors and an Arkansas Republican, "She was inexperienced, way too naïve and a little overzealous".

After moving to the Attorney General's office, she retained some authority over personnel matters. Goodling's authority over hiring expanded significantly in March 2006, when Gonzales signed an unpublished order delegating to Goodling and Kyle Sampson, his then chief of staff, the power to appoint or dismiss all department political appointees besides United States Attorneys, who are appointed by the President. The delegation included authority over interim United States attorneys (who are appointed by the Attorney General) and heads of the divisions that handle civil rights, public corruption, environmental crimes and other matters.

{{cite news

|first = Murray

|last = Wass

|title = Secret Order By Gonzales Delegated Extraordinary Powers To Aides

|date = 2007-04-30

|publisher = National Journal Group, Inc.

|url = http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/070430nj1.htm

|work = National Journal

|access-date = 2007-05-09

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070503080116/http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/070430nj1.htm

|archive-date = 2007-05-03

}}[http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/others-charge/ Internal Document Granting Personnel Hiring Authority to DoJ Aides] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926222952/http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/others-charge/ |date=2007-09-26 }} (via Talking Points Memo, May 9, 2007.) Retrieved May 10, 2007. Alberto Gonzales, Office of the Attorney General. Order 2808-2006. Delegation of certain personnel authorities to the Chief of Staff to the Attorney General and to the White House Liaison of the Department of Justice. March 1, 2006.

{{main|2006 dismissal of U.S. attorneys}}

According to e-mails, Goodling was involved in planning controversial 2006 U.S. attorney dismissals and in later efforts to limit the negative public reaction.{{cite news | url=http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/16977359.htm | title=Who is Monica Goodling?| publisher=McClatchy Newspapers |date=March 29, 2007 | access-date =2007-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070409201504/http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/16977359.htm |archive-date = April 9, 2007}} Goodling "warned of potential political problems with Tim Griffin's interim appointment as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas and underscored White House interest in getting it done." Reportedly, Goodling "took a leading role" in Bud Cummins's dismissal.

On March 23, 2007, she took an indefinite leave of absence.{{cite news | title=Gonzales Met With Top Aides On Firings: Papers Appear to Contradict Denial | author=Dan Eggen | newspaper=Washington Post |date=March 24, 2007 | page=A01 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032301396.html}} On March 26, 2007, Goodling cancelled her upcoming appearance at a Congressional hearing, citing her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.[http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/goodling-5th/ Letter from Goodling's attorneys to Senator Patrick Leahy, Judiciary Committee] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070601015025/http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/goodling-5th/ |date=2007-06-01 }}, March 24, 2007{{cite news | title=Gonzales's Senior Counselor Refuses to Testify | author=Dan Eggen | newspaper=Washington Post |date=March 26, 2007 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600935.html }} No Department of Justice employee has ever exercised their Fifth Amendment rights with respect to official conduct and remained an employee.Transcript: FBI Director Robert Mueller at Senate Judiciary Committee; March 27, 2007 On April 6, 2007, Goodling announced her resignation from the Department of Justice, writing to Gonzales, "May God bless you richly as you continue your service to America."{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070406/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/fired_prosecutors |title=Gonzales aide Goodling resigns |publisher=Associated Press |first=Lara Jakes |last=Jordan |date=2007-04-06 |access-date=2007-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070408034835/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070406/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/fired_prosecutors |archive-date=2007-04-08 |url-status=dead }}

On April 25, 2007, the House Judiciary Committee voted 32-6 to grant Goodling immunity and immediately authorized a subpoena.{{cite web |title=House panel approves subpoena for Rice |website=NBC News |date=25 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106120243/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/18308547/ |archive-date=2018-01-06 |url-status=live |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna18308547}} In early May 2007, the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility investigated whether Goodling violated federal law in making "hiring decisions on assistant U.S. attorneys based on party affiliation."{{cite news| title=Former Gonzales aide under investigation| publisher=Daily India| url=http://www.dailyindia.com/show/138245.php/Former-Gonzales-aide-under-investigation| date=May 2, 2007| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930154847/http://www.dailyindia.com/show/138245.php/Former-Gonzales-aide-under-investigation| archive-date=September 30, 2007}}

Initially, commentators speculated that Justice Department officials could try to bar Goodling's testimony to the House Committee, on the grounds that it might interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation. However, the Justice Department subsequently agreed not to contest the congressional grant of immunity.{{cite news|last=Appuzo |first=Matt |title=Goodling Granted Immunity in DOJ Probe |publisher=Associated Press |date=2007-05-11 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/worldlatest/story/0,,-6625855,00.html |access-date=2007-05-16 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

On May 11, 2007, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan signed an order granting Goodling immunity in exchange for her truthful testimony about the firings.{{cite web |title=Order Granting Monica Goodling immunity |publisher=Gonzales Watch |url=http://www.gonzaleswatch.com/2007/05/11/judge-oks-granting-monica-goodling-immunity-for-testimony-in-us-attorney-firings-probe/ |date=2007-05-11 |access-date=2007-05-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070618031659/http://www.gonzaleswatch.com/2007/05/11/judge-oks-granting-monica-goodling-immunity-for-testimony-in-us-attorney-firings-probe/ |archive-date=2007-06-18 }}

Goodling appeared before the House Judiciary Committee, on May 23, 2007, and provided to the committee a written statement that she read at the start of her testimony.

{{cite news | first=Eggen | last=Dan |author2=Carol D. Leonnig | title=Officials Describe Interference by Former Gonzales Aide | date=May 23, 2007 | url =https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/22/AR2007052201601.html | newspaper =Washington Post | pages =A04 | access-date = 2007-05-23 }}{{cite news|first=Monica |last=Goodling |title=Remarks of Monica Goodling before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States House of Representatives |date=May 23, 2007 |publisher=Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives |url=http://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/GoodlingII070523.pdf |access-date=2007-05-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070530210304/http://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/GoodlingII070523.pdf |archive-date=2007-05-30 |url-status=dead }}

In response to questions during the hearing, Goodling stated that she "crossed the line" and broke civil service rules about hiring, and improperly weighed political factors in considering applicants for career positions at the Department of Justice.{{cite news | first=David | last=Stout | title=Ex-Gonzales Aide Testifies, 'I Crossed the Line' | date=May 23, 2007 | url =https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/23/washington/23cnd-monica.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin | work =New York Times | access-date = 2007-05-23 }}{{cite news | first=Transcripts Wire | last=Congressional Quarterly | title=Goodling Testifies Before The House Judiciary Committee | date=May 23, 2007 | url =https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/transcripts/goodling_testimony_052307.html | newspaper =Washington Post | access-date = 2007-05-23 }} [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/transcripts/goodling_testimony_052307.html Link to Washington Post transcript of the hearing.]

On May 3, 2007, the Washington Post reported that the United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General launched an internal probe into whether Goodling "illegally took party affiliation into account in hiring career federal prosecutors" in her work at the Department.{{cite news | first=Dan | last=Eggen |author2=Amy Goldstein | title=Ex-Aide to Gonzales Accused Of Bias | date=2007-05-02 | url =https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/02/AR2007050201569.html | newspaper =The Washington Post| access-date = 2007-05-30 }}

On May 12, the New York Times published an article about Goodling repeatedly engaging in "prohibited personnel practices" while at the Justice Department. Several Justice Department officials told Robin Ashton, a criminal prosecutor at the Department of Justice, that "you have a Monica problem." Ashton was told that Goodling "believes you're a Democrat and doesn't feel you can be trusted."{{cite news | last=Lipton | first=Eric | title=Colleagues Cite Partisan Focus by Justice Official | work=The New York Times | date=2007-05-12 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/12/washington/12monica.html | access-date = 2007-05-13}} Ashton was denied a promotion during Goodling's tenure, but in the Obama administration, Attorney General Eric Holder determined that she was qualified and appointed her as Counsel for Professional Responsibility, the head of the Justice Department's internal ethics unit.{{Cite news | last = Reilly| first = Ryan J.| title = Reported Victim Of Bush-Era DOJ Politicization To Head DOJ's Internal Watchdog| newspaper = Talking Points Memo| date = December 24, 2010| url = http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/reputed_victim_of_bush-era_doj_politicization_to_head_dojs_internal_watchdog.php?ref=fpi| access-date = 2010-12-27}}

One week after Goodling's testimony before the House, the Department's Office of the Inspector General and Counsel for the Office of Professional Responsibility confirmed in a letter{{cite news |url=http://www.gonzaleswatch.com/2007/05/30/doj-inspector-general-glenn-fine-expands-improper-hiring-probe-of-goodling/ |title=Letter from Justice Department Inspector General and Counsel, Office of Professional Responsibility |publisher=Gonzales Watch |date=May 30, 2007 |author=Gonzales Watch |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070601170045/http://www.gonzaleswatch.com/2007/05/30/doj-inspector-general-glenn-fine-expands-improper-hiring-probe-of-goodling/ |archive-date=June 1, 2007 }} to the Senate Judiciary Committee, that they were expanding their investigation beyond "the removals of United States Attorneys" to also include "DOJ hiring and personnel decisions" by Goodling and other Justice Department employees.{{cite news | first=Dan | last=Eggen | title=Justice Dept. Widens Firings Probe | date=2007-05-30 | url =https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/30/AR2007053001499.html | newspaper =The Washington Post| access-date = 2007-05-30 }}

On July 28, 2008, a Justice Department report concluded that Goodling had violated federal law and Justice Department policy by discriminating against job applicants who were not Republican or conservative loyalists. "Goodling improperly subjected candidates for certain career positions to the same politically based evaluation she used on candidates for political positions," the report concluded.{{Cite news |last=Vicini |first=James |date=2008-07-28 |title=Justice Dept. hiring marred by politics: probe |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-justice-probe-idUSN2848560620080728 |access-date=2023-03-23}} In one instance, Justice investigators found, Goodling initially objected to hiring an assistant prosecutor in Washington because "judging from his resume, he appeared to be a liberal Democrat type." In another, she rejected an experienced terrorism prosecutor to work on counterterrorism issues at a Justice Department headquarters office "because of his wife's political affiliations."

On May 7, 2007, National Journal's "Inside Washington" column reported that it was Goodling who ordered drapes to be placed over the partially nude Art Deco statues (Spirit of Justice) in the Justice Department's Great Hall during Ashcroft's tenure as Attorney General. At the time, the department spent $8,000 on blue drapes to hide the two giant, aluminum statues, according to DOJ spokeswoman Barbara Comstock.{{Cite web |date=January 29, 2002 |title=Cover-Up At Justice Department |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cover-up-at-justice-department/ |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}} The coverings were removed in 2005.

On July 15, 2009, Washington Blade's "The Latest" column reported that it was Goodling who asked Michael Elston to lead a 2006 screening committee for the Justice Department Summer Internship Program. The column goes on to describe an evaluation of apparent discriminatory application process similar to the 2007 attempts to remove Department attorneys based on non-qualifying criteria. The research shows that under Goodling/Elston, 82% of applicants with liberal affiliations on their resume were rejected for the program while only 13% of applicants with conservative affiliations were rejected.[http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=26236 Reference Blade article]

Goodling married Michael Krempasky, co-founder of RedState.{{Cite news |last=Leitko |first=Aaron |date=2011-08-15 |title=Names & Faces: Monica Goodling; Jeb Bush Jr.; Tara Reid |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/post/names-and-faces-monica-goodling-jeb-bush-jr-tara-reid/2011/08/15/gIQA6yboHJ_blog.html |access-date=2023-03-23 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US}} She is currently employed under her married name, Monica Krempasky, at Corallo Media Strategies, a Virginia public relations firm run by former John Ashcroft spokesman Mark Corallo.{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/post/monica-goodling--hard-to-find-these-days-but-still-around--reprimanded-by-virginia-bar/2011/05/10/AFvW0WsG_blog.html | title=Monica Goodling — hard to find these days but still around — reprimanded by Virginia Bar | newspaper=Washington Post | date=May 11, 2011 | access-date=July 16, 2012 | author=Roberts, Roxanne}}{{cite web | url=http://corallomediastrategies.com/team.html | title=Corallo Media Strategies - Team | access-date=July 16, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623232606/http://corallomediastrategies.com/team.html | archive-date=2012-06-23 | url-status=dead }}

{{reflist|2}}

• [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/transcripts/ Transcript of Monica M. Goodling's May 23, 2007 testimony before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States House of Representatives]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Congressional Quarterly via The Washington Post, May 23, 2007.
• [http://fundrace.org/neighbors.php?type=name&lname=goodling&fname=&search=Search+by+Name Goodling's donation to the 2004 election campaign of George W. Bush at Fundrace.org]
• [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/29/AR2007032901964.html Article on Goodling in The Washington Post]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/19991008153443/http://home.regent.edu/monigoo/ Archived copy of Goodling's Regent University website, circa 1997]
• [https://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/lawindex_brief.php/ Ranking of Law Schools by U.S. News & World Report (2007)]
• [http://publicservice.evendon.com/DOJHiringJul08M.htm Dept. of Justice Report (Jul 2007) in convenient format]

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Category:1973 births

Category:Living people

Category:Regent University School of Law alumni

Category:Messiah University alumni

Category:Washington College of Law alumni

Category:United States Department of Justice lawyers

Category:Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy

Category:People from York County, Pennsylvania

Category:College Republicans

Category:George W. Bush administration personnel

Category:United States Department of Justice officials

Category:Virginia Republicans