Legal Ethics
Lawyers Ask Va. Bar to Investigate Monica Goodling
Posted Sep 16, 2008 8:05 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
About a dozen lawyers are asking the Virginia State Bar to conduct an ethics investigation of former Justice Department lawyer Monica Goodling, accused in a report this summer of illegally considering politics in hiring decisions.
Lawyer William R. Wilder drafted the complaint, the Richmond Times Dispatch reports. He told the newspaper he is concerned about Goodling’s conduct and noted she apparently has not been charged or disciplined in any other jurisdictions.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey hinted that he will not prosecute Goodling and others accused of improprieties when he told the ABA House of Delegates in August that “not every violation of the law is a crime.”
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Comments
Paul
Sep 16, 2008 11:56 AM CST
A crime, a serious error in judgment, an ethical lapse. I suspect it was a crime because Goodling pled the protections of the Fifth. Apparently, our Constitution only affords one protections if one fits the correct demographics or pledge allegiance to the Republican Party.
Goodlings mentors were glad to have her do the dirty work for them and plead ignorance and naivete. Then Mukasey bailed her out as best he could. Let us see if the Virginia Bar gives her a pass as well.
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Ochiee
Sep 29, 2008 1:15 PM CST
I believe she she initially refused to testify, pleading the 5th. Because of her refusal, she was granted substantial immunity against prosecution. Immunity from prosecution doesn’t mean she did not commit any crime(s), nor does it indicate that she didn’t violate the ethical standards of the Bar.
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