The New York Times reports that the Democrats have “requested a private interview” with Monica Goodling – an aide (on leave) to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales – who “has asserted her constitutional right not to testify at a public hearing” about the U.S. Attorneys controversy.
Mr. Conyers’s letter said that House lawyers wanted to question Ms. Goodling to evaluate the legality of her refusal to testify. It said she could not assert the privilege as a blanket justification not to appear.
“We are concerned that several of the asserted grounds for refusing to testify do not satisfy the well established bases for a proper invocation of the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination,� the letter said. “The Fifth Amendment privilege, under longstanding Supreme Court precedents, does not provide a reason to fail to appear to testify; the privilege must be invoked by the witness on a question-by-question basis.�
The letter was also signed by Representative Linda T. Sanchez, a California Democrat who is the chairwoman of the subcommittee conducting the inquiry.
Goodling’s lawyer Michael Dowd did not appreciate the letter, calling it “a threat and a possible violation of legal ethics”. He wrote: “In a free country every citizen should have the liberty to exercise their rights without threats or coercion.”
It seems to me that the Democrats have a stronger case than Goodling in this regard: why not do it on a question-by-question basis? If there are questions she does not want to answer out of fear of incriminating herself, she can plead the fifth during the hearing. Or am I missing something here?
How can one, by testifying in general, incriminate oneself? It is impossible. One can only incriminate oneself if one answers questions that would incriminate oneself. There are, I am sure, questions the members of Congress would like to ask Goodling which would not incriminate her, so she should work with the Dems.
Quite amazing, isn’t it, that White House aides are pleading the fifth (before actually being heard)?
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