[edit] Investigation of Goodling’s hiring practices
On May 3, 2007, the Washington Post reported that the United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General launched an internal probe into whether or not Goodling “illegally took party affiliation into account in hiring career federal prosecutors” in her work at the Department.[24]
On May 12, the New York Times published an article about Goodling repeatedly engaging in “prohibited personnel practices” while at the Justice Department. “You have a Monica problem” several Justice Department officials told Robin C. Ashton, a criminal prosecutor at the Department of Justice. “She believes you’re a Democrat and doesn’t feel you can be trusted.”[25]
One week after Goodling’s testimony before the House, the Department’s Office of the Inspector General and Counsel for the Office of Professional Responsibility confirmed in a letter[26] to the Senate Judiciary Committee, that they were expanding their investigation beyond “the removals of United States Attorneys” to also include “DOJ hiring and personnel decisions” by Goodling and other Justice Department employees. [27]
On July 28, 2008, a Justice Department report concluded that Goodling had violated federal law and Justice Department policy by discriminating against job applicants who weren’t Republican or conservative loyalists. Goodling improperly subjected candidates for certain career positions to the same politically based evaluation she used on candidates for political positions, the report concluded. In one instance, Justice investigators found, Goodling objected to hiring an assistant prosecutor in Washington because judging from his resume, he appeared to be a liberal Democrat. In another, she rejected an experienced terror prosecutor to work on counterterror issues at a Justice Department headquarters office “because of his wife’s political affiliations,”.In another case, colleagues said that Ms. Goodling blocked the appointment of a female prosecutor in Washington because she “believed the lawyer was involved in a lesbian relationship with her supervisor”, according to the report.“There was no romantic relationship,” said Lisa Banks, the attorney for Ms. Hagan, “but the rumors were pernicious and grew legs, and it cost her the job.”[28] Goodling may also face a criminal investigation into her conduct.[29]
[edit] Role in other DOJ controversies
On May 7, 2007, National Journal’s “Inside Washington” column reported that it was Goodling who ordered drapes to be placed over the partially nude Art Deco statues (Spirit of Justice) in the Justice Department’s Great Hall during Ashcroft’s tenure as Attorney General. At the time, the department spent $8,000 on blue drapes to hide the two giant, aluminum statues, according to spokesman Shane Hix.[citation needed] The coverings were removed in 2005.
On April 2, 2008, NPR’s All Things Considered reported that the Justice Department’s inspector general is investigating whether Goodling was instrumental in the February 2007 dismissal of Department career attorney Leslie Hagen from her job due to rumors that Hagen was a lesbian. An e-mail shows that a few months before Hagen was let go, Goodling decided to remove part of Hagen’s job portfolio. [30] On April 4, 2008, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee sought confirmation that the Department of Justice Inspector General and the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) were examining the case of the dismissal of Hagen.[31][32]