Fire Monica Goodling

Justice Department official Monica Goodling said through her attorney on Monday that she will invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid answering questions about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last December.

While Ms. Goodling unquestionably has a Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, that is not the same as a right to work in the United States Department of Justice.

The people who work in the Justice Department control the powerful and potentially oppressive machinery of federal law enforcement. The standard for employment in that bureaucracy ought to be higher than "not found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."

If President Bush doesn't fire Monica Goodling, it will appear that he is endorsing a cover-up of illegal conduct by Justice Department officials. He can contend that the House and Senate hearings into the firing of U.S. attorneys are a partisan witchhunt, but that's for the voters to decide. No president has the right or the constitutional power to impede an investigation by the elected representatives of the people of the United States.

Any Justice Department official who refuses to testify before Congress should resign or be fired. Monica Goodling has to go.


Copyright 2007

Editor's note: You might be interested in the earlier post, "Fred Fielding's bad day."

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