Posted at 9:54 PM ET, 08/30/2007
Document Shows Widening Probe Into DOJ Hiring
In Friday's Washington Post Dan Eggen and I examine two expanding fronts of the Justice Department's internal investigation into Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and his top subordinates.
Justice's Inspector General and its Office of Professional Responsibility acknowledged they are examining Gonzales's recent congressional testimony for potential lies or false statements under oath, but in addition we unearthed a key document that serves as a mini-road map for a different portion of the now sprawling probe. This part of the investigation is examining whether Gonzales's top aides improperly and possibly illegally used political considerations in the hiring process at the Justice Department.
A cover letter [PDF] and 12-page questionnaire [PDF] sent out by IG-OPR investigators went to hundreds of people who were interviewed by four top aides to Gonzales over a 40-month period, from Jan. 1, 2004 through this past April. That's a much longer timeframe than was previously known to be under inquiry by Justice's investigators, who began this spring by examining the propriety of the firing of nine U.S. attorneys last year and now have a multi-faceted probe on their hands.
The questionnaire reveals several key, new bits of information about the hiring process portion of the IG-OPR probe:
? The investigation has gone well beyond just Monica Goodling, the former counsel to Gonzales who admitted in congressional testimony in May that she frequently "crossed the line" in her hiring decisions by using political criteria for jobs that were not intended to be political by their nature. The internal investigators, who have the power to recommend criminal investigations, had previously acknowledged they were examining Goodling's hiring practices, but this document shows that former Gonzales chief of staff D. Kyle Sampson and two other Justice aides are under inquiry.
? Investigators are not limiting their interviews to people who sought out non-political jobs; instead, they are also asking questions of candidates for senior political appointments.
? In one brief question, the IG-OPR questionnaire asks whether any White House officials sat in on the interviews with senior Justice Officials.
? The investigators are particularly focused on whether Goodling and other Justice officials were using personal political questions when making hiring decisions. Investigators want to know if interviewees were asked:
- to name "your favorite president, legislator, public figure, or Supreme Court justice"
- "what kind of conservative you were (law and order; social; fiscal)"
- what was "your position on the war on terror"
Posted by Paul Kane | Permalink | Comments: (22)
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Posted at 6:15 PM ET, 08/29/2007
Coleman Sheds Craig Contributions While Lott Resists Resignation Call
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) has become the first lawmaker to announce that he is not keeping a political donation from embattled Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho).
Hours after calling for Craig's resignation, Coleman's Senate campaign told Capitol Briefing that it would likely turn over a $2,500 donation from Craig's political action committee to a local charity.
"We are not going to keep it," Cullen Sheehan, Coleman's campaign spokesman, said in a telephone interview.
The donation to Coleman, from Craig's Alliance for the West PAC, came just two weeks after Craig's June 11 arrest in a Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport men's restroom, resulting in a guilty plea for disorderly conduct involving an undercover police officer working a lewd-conduct sting.
The $2,500 to Coleman was one of four checks that Craig cut on June 26 to Republican incumbents who are facing potentially difficult re-elections in 2008. Craig said yesterday he would decide next month whether to seek a fourth six-year term in 2008.
In addition to Coleman, Alliance for the West sent $2,500 checks to the campaigns of Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and John Sununu (R-N.H.)
In an interview with a talk radio station in northern Minnesota earlier today, Coleman also became the first senator to call for Craig's resignation. Later in the day, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) also called for Craig's resignation during an interview CNN. Craig's senior committee posts have also been yanked away from him as the Ethics Committee prepares an investigation into the guilty plea.
Coleman's office put out a statement explaining his call for Craig's resignation, citing the chamber's loosely defined term for conduct that - while not specifically outlawed under the rules - simply reflects poorly on the Senate.
"Senator Craig pled guilty to a crime involving conduct unbecoming a senator. He should resign," Coleman said.
Capitol Briefing has not heard back from the other senators who received Craig's campaign contributions to determine if they will keep his cash.
At this point, the closest thing Craig has to a public defender is Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), the minority whip who himself endured a scandal in December 2002 that ended with him giving up his post as Republican leader because of intemperate remarks at the late Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party. Lott hung on during that period for more than two weeks, and one of his staunchest defenders was Craig, who had served for more than six years in the GOP leadership with Lott.
Lott has signed on to the leadership statements calling for the ethics investigation and the removal of Craig's senior committee status. But in interviews with Fox News and Bloomberg TV, he stopped short of calling for Craig's resignation. "I'm not ready to call for that," he told Fox News.
Here's the transcript of Lott's interview with Bloomberg:
Bloomberg: Do you think Sen., Craig should step down?
Lott: I think we have done so far what's appropriate. I don't [think] we know all of
the details. I saw Senator Craig yesterday say that he had not done
anything wrong and that he shouldn't have pleaded guilty to resisting
arrest. The leadership team has already called on this matter to be sent to
the Ethic s Committee to clear up what has actually occurred. And also
today we did ask that he step aside from his ranking committee positions
while this is being resolved. And I think based on what we know now that
is appropriate. It's s very unfortunate situation, very sad and very
serious. And I think we had to pay very close attention to it as we work
on finding out what really went on."
Bloomberg: And sir you do expect Sen. Craig to be back in Congress, in the
Senate, when you all return next week?
Lott: I really don't know what to expect. Only he and his family and
friends, close friends, could answer that at this point, I expect he'll be
back based on what he said yesterday but I don't know."
Bloomberg: The Larry Craig described the last two days -- is that the Larry Craig
you came to know in the Senate for so many years?
Lott: Well he's been a very aggressive legislator, he's been active in
working for the state of Idaho, he has been a friend.
And so I am shocked and I am disappointed at you know, this turn of
events ... but I also have learned the hard way that before you jump to
conclusions or call on people to do one thing or another, at least know all
of the facts and you know take advantage of an opportunity to hear what,
you know, really happened.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/?hpid=topnews
