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<DIV class=timestamp>March 26, 2007</DIV>
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<H1><NYT_HEADLINE type=" " version="1.0">Gonzales Aide to Invoke Fifth Amendment
</NYT_HEADLINE></H1><NYT_BYLINE type=" " version="1.0"></NYT_BYLINE>
<DIV class=byline>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS</DIV><NYT_TEXT></NYT_TEXT>
<DIV id=articleBody>
<P><B>Filed at 4:50 p.m. ET</B></P>
<P>WASHINGTON (AP) -- Monica Goodling, a senior Justice Department official
involved in the firings of federal prosecutors, will refuse to answer questions
at upcoming Senate hearings, citing Fifth Amendment protection against
self-incrimination, her lawyer said Monday.</P>
<P>''The potential for legal jeopardy for Ms. Goodling from even her most
truthful and accurate testimony under these circumstances is very real,'' said
the lawyer, John Dowd.</P>
<P>''One need look no further than the recent circumstances and proceedings
involving <A title="More articles about I. Lewis Libby Jr."
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/i_lewis_libby_jr/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Lewis
Libby</A>,'' he said, a reference to the recent conviction of Vice President <A
title="More articles about Dick Cheney."
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/dick_cheney/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Dick
Cheney's</A> former chief of staff in the CIA leak case.</P>
<P>The White House, meanwhile, continued to stand by Attorney General <A
title="More articles about Alberto R. Gonzales."
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/alberto_r_gonzales/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Alberto
Gonzales</A> despite new calls over the weekend for his resignation and
documents that indicate he may have been more involved in the dismissals than he
has previously acknowledged.</P>
<P>Democrats have accused the Justice Department and the White House of purging
the prosecutors for political reasons. The Bush administration maintains the
firings were not improper because <A
title="More articles about United States Attorneys."
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/u/united_states_attorneys/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier">U.S.
attorneys</A> are political appointees.</P>
<P>Goodling was Gonzales' senior counsel and White House liaison until she took
a leave of absence earlier this month. She was subpoenaed last week by the
Senate Judiciary Committee along with several of Gonzales' other top aides.</P>
<P>There have been questions about whether Goodling and others misinformed
Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty about the firings just before he testified
before the Senate committee in February.</P>
<P>Dowd said that since then a senior Justice Department official had privately
told a member of the Senate committee that he was misled by Goodling and others
before testifying.</P>
<P>Gonzales' truthfulness about the firings of seven prosecutors on Dec. 7 and
another one months earlier also have been questioned. On March 13 at a news
conference, Gonzales denied that he participated in discussions or saw any
documents about the firings, despite documents that show he attended a Nov. 27
meeting with senior aides on the topic, where he approved a detailed plan to
carry out the dismissals.</P>
<P>Goodling was one of five senior Justice Department aides who met with
Gonzales for that Nov. 27 discussion. Department documents released Friday to
Capitol Hill show she attended multiple meetings about the dismissals for
months.</P>
<P>She also was among aides who on Feb. 5 helped Deputy Attorney General Paul
McNulty prepare his testimony for a Senate hearing the next day -- during which
he may have given Congress incomplete or otherwise misleading information about
the circumstances of the firings.</P>
<P>Additionally, Goodling was involved in an April 6, 2006, phone call between
the Justice Department and Sen. <A title="More articles about Pete V. Domenici."
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/pete_v_domenici/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Pete
Domenici</A>, R-N.M., who had complained to the Bush administration and the
president about David Iglesias, then the U.S. attorney in Albuquerque. Domenici
wanted Iglesias to push more aggressively on a corruption probe against
Democrats before the 2006 elections.</P>
<P>The Justice Department appeared surprised Monday to hear of Goodling's
decision on testifying.</P>
<P>Earlier Monday, addressing rumors that department aides would refuse to
testify, Justice spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said: ''That is incorrect.''</P>
<P>Addressing the anticipated testimony of McNulty and Associate Deputy Attorney
General Will Moschella -- the two who recently appeared, respectively, in Senate
and House hearings -- Scolinos said the two men ''are voluntarily making
themselves available to the Hill and plan to fully answer all questions posed to
them.''</P>
<P>Scolinos had no immediate comment about Goodling's testimony.</P>
<P>White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Monday that Gonzales ''might be
accused of being imprecise in what he was saying,'' but maintained that the
attorney general was not closely involved in the firings.</P>
<P>''I understand the concern. I understand that people might think that there
are inconsistencies,'' Perino said. ''But as I read it, I think that he has been
consistent.'' The White House is placing the onus on Gonzales to explain his
actions to lawmakers, but he is not scheduled to testify before the Senate
Judiciary Committee until April 17 -- three weeks away.</P>
<P>Speaking to reporters in Orlando, Fla., Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said
whether or not Gonzales was fully engaged, ''he has lost all credibility with
me.'' Nelson on Sunday joined the ranks of lawmakers in both parties calling for
Gonzales to resign.</P>
<P>''Unless he has a good explanation for not only what he knew and when he knew
it but also for the ineptitude of the department ... he is a goner,'' Nelson
said of Gonzales. ''I think there might be enough <A
title="More articles about Republican Party"
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/republican_party/index.html?inline=nyt-org">Republicans</A>
who are calling for his resignation, even before he takes the witness
stand.''</P>
<P>The Senate committee's senior Republican, Sen. <A
title="More articles about Arlen Specter."
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/arlen_specter/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Arlen
Specter</A> of Pennsylvania, on Sunday said documents including a Nov. 27
calendar entry that placed the attorney general at a Justice Department meeting
to discuss the dismissals ''appear to contradict'' Gonzales' earlier
statements.</P>
<P>But his Nov. 27 schedule, included in a batch of memos sent to Capitol Hill
late Friday, showed he attended an hour-long meeting at which, aides said, he
approved a detailed plan for executing the purge.</P>
<P>Since the release of that calendar entry on Friday, Justice aides have said
Gonzales meant he was not involved in selecting the prosecutors when he said he
didn't participate in discussions about their
firings.</P></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>