More than a month after the media and Congress began speculating over the suspicious firing of eight United States attorneys, questions about the Justice Department's conduct are continuing to emerge.
Yesterday, lawyers for Monica M. Goodling, a senior counselor to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, announced that she will not appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee and appealed to her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, according to an article published in The Washington Post.
At this point in time Congress and the American people have only a murky conception of what went on in the Department of Justice when the eight attorneys were dismissed. But it is doubtful that this scandal is preoccupying many Americans on a daily basis. After all, when tens of soldiers a week are dying in Iraq, when veterans are languishing uncared for in army hospitals, and when college students are rebuilding New Orleans, who has time to worry about a convoluted legal morass on Capitol Hill? This news is just one more failure to add to a litany of fiascos brought on by Bush and his advisors.
Nonetheless, we do need to get the bottom of some basic questions. How much did Gonzales know about the firings? How were the dismissals orchestrated?
What is clear is that the attorneys who lost their jobs were neither incompetent nor failing to perform in their duties. Colleagues of former U.S. attorney in San Diego Carol C. Lam have called her work exemplary. Some Democrats are now wondering whether Lam was given the boot to prevent further investigations of Republicans and of Department of Defense Officials.
In a recent Op-Ed in the New York Times, former U.S. attorney for the District of New Mexico David Iglesias described two politically-motivated telephone calls he received from Republican Congressmen before being removed from his post.
The groundless firings of these attorneys is a blatant sign of misconduct within the Justice Department, and the Senate Judiciary Committee is completely entitled to investigate what went wrong, how it happened, and who was responsible.
Unfortunately, the Bush administration does not seem to think that such inquiry is appropriate. Last week, the new White House counsel Fred Fielding offered the congressional investigators a chance to talk to several aides, including Karl Rove, but only if the conversations remained private, with no transcript and no oath taken. According to the New York Times, Fielding made a veiled reference executive privilege through the president's right to receive candid advice from his counselors.
But even if the executive branch is entitled to keep some of its internal workings away from the public eye, now is not the time for members of the Bush administration to hide their actions. The American public is keenly aware that the firings of the U.S. attorneys were inappropriate and politically motivated. What is more, both Republicans and Democrats are frustrated with repeated incidents of misconduct that have marked Bush's second term. From unwarranted wire tapping to deteriorating conditions at army medical hospitals, the executive branch has time and time again failed the American people.
The Department of Justice is not improving its image by hiding what went on behind closed doors. Hindering congressional investigations into the firings will not convince anyone in Congress or in the public that administration officials were not at fault. It is high time that members of the Bush administration begin accepting responsibility for their actions.
