Alberto Gonzales
AG Influence on Testimony Probed
Posted Jun 14, 2007, 02:28 pm CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The leaders of an internal Justice Department investigation confirmed today that they are probing whether the attorney general tried to influence congressional testimony by former aide Monica Goodling.
The disclosure was made in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Washington Post reports. Inspector General Glenn Fine and H. Marshall Jarrett, the counsel for the Office of Professional Responsibility, wrote that “the scope of our investigation does include this matter.”
Testifying on May 23, Goodling described an “uncomfortable” conversation with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as an investigation was underway into the firings.
"He laid out for me his general recollection ... of some of the process" of the firings and then asked if she had any reaction, Goodling said.
Gonzales has said that he never tried to shape or influence testimony.