Caffeine.addict:
Yeah, except what kind of sway is the Democratic National Party going to have with the State bar? Also, the ABA has nothing to do with being a member of the bar. The ABA is purely voluntary. To be licensed in say Virginia, you have to be a member of the Virginia State Bar.
Sure, whoever heard of powerful national legislators having any sway at all with lawyers?
Except it depends which party is in power with which state bar and which state bar is going to be afraid to be seen covering up for someone. It really just depends on what that particular bar counsel’s office is thinking and what kind of scutiny and political influence they are under.
I’m expecting that Goodling will be affected by the same extensive memory lapses that AG Gonzales had during his “testimony.” She just won’t remember anything of interest. Here’s one thing I think the Dems (and any honest Pubbies on the panel) could do in response. Generally, there’s an introductory session to these things where they talk about the achievements and background of the person testifying. The Dems need to dig up every bit of bio they can about Goodling that talks about her intelligence, her breadth of knowledge, her command of the facts, etc. They might even find something that directly addresses her powers of memory. Then when she starts her long recitation about how she slept through her life during the DA firings coverup, the Dems can make startled remarks about how differently her testimony portrays here. Was this other stuff wrong? How did she get through law school with such a poor memory? Etc. Etc. Etc. In short, make part of the cost of her testimony the complete destruction of her credibility as a lawyer.
Sadly, I don’t think it’ll work. Gonzo showed the way: “I don’t recall any recollections of any remembrances of anything I have or haven’t done here.”
In order to get the immunity, as I understand it, she would have to explain to the judge exactly why she felt her testimony would incriminate herself. Doesn’t that imply some small amount of factual revelation beyond ‘I don’t recall’?