Welcome to Gonzales Watch - Blawging the Ex-Attorney General

Monica Goodling (inset), Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ former Senior Counsel and DOJ liasion to the White House, has reportedly discussing an immunity deal with the House Committee on the Judiciary.

The Committee will convene tomorrow at 10:15 a.m. EST to debate and vote on whether or not to grant Goodling immunity. A two-thirds vote is required in order for immunity to be granted.

According to a statement from Committee Chair Rep. John Conyers (Dem. - Mich.), “Goodling clearly has much to contribute to the Committee’s understanding of the surrounding circumstances,” since she could “begin to clear up the many inconsistencies and gaps” in the firings that have come from Gonzales and others.

Gonzales continues to maintain that he did “nothing improper” in firing the career prosecutors.

Goodling was present at the Nov. 27, 2007 meeting in the Attorney General’s conference room where Gonzales and his most senior aides met to discuss the planned firings of U.S. Attorneys.

Before she resigned from the Justice Department, the House and Senate Judiciary Committee repeatedly sought Goodling’s sworn testimony during its investigation of the U.S. Attorney firings controversy.

John Dowd, a noted D.C. white collar criminal defense lawyer representing Goodling, repeatedly invoked his client’s Fifth Amendment right not to testify.

The former senior DOJ official could be a key figure in Congress’ ongoing investigation of whether eight federal prosecutors were fired for cause, or terminated for purely political reasons. As the Justice Department’s White House Liasion, Goodling is likely to have further information about what, if any role White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove had in the process.

A grant of immunity would be a big victory for Goodling and her lawyer. Dowd stridently argued that the Senate and House tactics smacked of McCarthyism by assuming that his client was hiding something, when under the Constitution, she is presumed innocent of any wrongdoing.

The Wall Street Journal has put together a terrific ‘Who’s Who’ list of the U.S. Attorneys who were terminated, the key Justice Department officials, and White House officials involved in the ongoing investigation.

Every player has a brief bio and picture.  You can read it here.