Senators Leahy and Spector ask DOJ Inspector General to Probe Gonzales for Possible Obstruction

June 7, 2007 (LPAC)--Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy announced yesterday that he and Ranking Republican Sen. Arlen Spector had sent a letter to Department of Justice Inspector General Glenn Fine. The letter asks whether the expansion announced May 30, of the investigation by his office and DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility regarding the U.S. Attorney firings, includes a conversation former DOJ official Monica Goodling had with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about the firings of several federal prosecutors before she resigned from the Department. Goodling testified before the House Judiciary Committee on May 23 about a meeting she had with Gonzales shortly before she resigned, that made her "uncomfortable." At this meeting, Gonzales recounted to her, his recollection of the process leading up to and including the firing and replacement of several U.S. Attorneys, according to Goodling's testimony. She testified the conversation was the Thursday or Friday before she resigned.

The Leahy/Spector letter attaches transcript-excerpts from several hearings on the U.S. Attorney firings. In the excerpt of AG Gonzales' April 19, 2007 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he stated, "But there are clearly some things that I don't know about what happened. And it's frustrating to me, as head of the department, to not know that still today. But I haven't talked to witnesses because of the fact that I haven't wanted to interfere with this investigation and department investigations." Leahy and Spector helpfully underlined the last sentence of that statement.