Monday, July 28, 2008

O.J. Simpson cleared along with Alberto Gonzalez in DOJ probe

Alberto Gonzalez' lawyer says of the Inspector General's report finding legal violations and misconduct by Gonzo's chief of staff and others, that "the investigation found that former Attorney General Gonzales was not involved in or aware of the politicized hiring practices of staffers."

I've leafed through the report, and darned if I can find the statement exonerating Gonzo. Instead I find this on page 135:

This investigation examined allegations that Monica Goodling, who
worked in the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) as the Department’s
White House Liaison, inappropriately considered political and ideological
affiliations in the selection and hiring of certain Assistant United States
Attorneys (AUSA) and career attorneys in the Department, and in
approving details of career attorneys to Department offices. We also
investigated allegations that former Chief of Staff to the Attorney General
Kyle Sampson, Goodling, and Goodling’s predecessor as the
Department’s White House Liaison, Jan Williams, inappropriately
considered political and ideological affiliations in selecting immigration
judges (IJs) and members of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), all
of which are career positions.

Someone might read that to say the IG wasn't investigating Gonzo. Clearly though, from Gonzo's lawyer, a failure to reach out to investigate someone means exoneration. I've seen this statement repeated in the media without challenge, so it must be right. Thus, the stunning news that O.J. actually didn't kill his wife. Case closed.

Meanwhile, I expect the lawyers that the IG report did reach will be facing ethics complaint in whatever bar they're admitted to practice (as these two did). Should be interesting to see if there's any accountability.

UPDATE: A little more info comes out from the IG's testimony to Congress. Gonzo disclaimed all knowledge of any political bias in hiring. Sounds like no forensics was done on his computers, but it's just a short clip of the testimony.

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