Monica Goodling's uncomfortable feeling

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is a creep.

There's no other conclusion that can be drawn from the testimony of his former aide, Monica Goodling, last Wednesday in front of the House Judiciary Committee, which is investigating the firing of eight U.S. attorneys last December.

Ms. Goodling told the committee about the day she called the attorney general and asked to see him. It was, she recollected, at the end of the last full week she was to spend working at the Department of Justice.

She was distraught, she said several times, as she asked the attorney general for a transfer to another job. She said she felt she should no longer be working on his staff.

Ms. Goodling testified that the attorney general listened to her plea for a transfer and said he would have to think about it.

Then he did something she didn't expect. He said, "Let me tell you what I remember" about the firing of the U.S. attorneys.

He laid out his recollection of events and asked Ms. Goodling for her reaction to it.

She testified that she didn't say anything. She told the House Judiciary Committee that she thought it was a conversation they should not be having, and that it made her uncomfortable.

Monica Goodling told the committee she did not believe the attorney general was trying to shape her testimony. She said she thought he was just being friendly.

That's sweet.

She may really believe that, or maybe Pat Robertson's law school teaches Ronald Reagan's Eleventh Commandment.

Alberto Gonzales said late Wednesday, through a spokesman, that he "has never attempted to influence or shape the testimony or public statements of any witness in this matter, including Ms. Goodling." Brian Roehrkasse, the spokesman, said Mr. Gonzales was only trying to "comfort" Ms. Goodling "in a very difficult period of her life."

Of course, this period of her life would be less difficult if Alberto Gonzales had given her a transfer to another job.

Was he holding that over her head when he asked her for her "reaction" to his recollection of events? Was he letting her know that keeping the story straight--in other words, lying under oath to Congress--was a good career move?

Monica Goodling may have been too distraught, or too honest, to fully grasp that message, but her subconscious sounded the alarm. She felt uncomfortable.

It is not to President Bush's credit that he has refused to fire Alberto Gonzales. Every day, this administration looks less like a presidency and more like a Marlon Brando film festival.


Copyright 2007

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