Welcome to Gonzales Watch - Blawging the Ex-Attorney General

Former U.S. Department of Justice Counsel to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales received an official court order today granting her immunity in exchange for truthful testimony about the U.S. Attorney firings investigation.

But Washington Post reporter Dan Eggen reminds followers of the legal scandal that her immunity from prosecution in the U.S. Attorney terminations inquiry will not prevent her from any potential fiasco stemming from an internal Justice Department probe into whether or not Goodling hired career prosecutors for the agency by giving weight to an applicant’s political party affiliation.

Harvard Law School graduate Glenn Fine heads the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General which is spearheading the probe into Goodling’s hiring methods.

A federal judge granted Monica Goodling immunity today in exchange for her testimony in the U.S. Attorney firings scandal. A copy of the judge’s order is shown below

Goodling tendered her resignation on April 7, 2007.

On April 25, 2007, the House Committee on the Judiciary approved a resolution authorizing the General Counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives “to apply to a United States District Court for an order immunizing” Goodling from immunity in exchange for her testimony in the U.S. Attorney firings scandal.

Investigators believe that Goodling’s testimony may link White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove to the termination of career U.S. Attorneys for purely political reasons.

The court application was handled by John D. Filamor, assistant counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives. Filamor is a 2001 graduate of George Washington Law School.