Attorneys for Gonzales Aide Criticize Congressional Democrats

Dan Eggen
Washington Post
Wednesday, April 4, 2007; 3:56 PM

Attorneys for Monica M. Goodling, a senior aide to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, fired back at House and Senate Democrats today, reiterating her intent not to cooperate with a probe into the firing of eight federal prosecutors and comparing lawmakers pursuing her to the Cold War ideologue, former senator Joseph McCarthy.

In a letter to House Democrats, Goodling's attorneys lambasted Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and his counterpart in the Senate, Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), for questioning whether Goodling was hiding criminal activity by refusing to testify before Congress.

Attorneys John M. Dowd and Jeffrey King wrote that Goodling's assertion of her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination "can in no way be interpreted to suggest that Ms. Goodling herself participated in any criminal activity."