Justice Department expands Gonzales probe

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department is investigating whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales sought to improperly influence the testimony of a departing senior aide, two of its senior officials said yesterday, adding a new dimension to the troubles already besetting the nation's chief law enforcement official.

The Justice Department officials, in a letter released yesterday by the Senate Judiciary Committee, said their inquiry into the firings of nine US attorneys includes an examination of a meeting Gonzales held in mid-March with his aide then, Monica Goodling, who testified last month that the attorney general's comments during the session made her feel "a little uncomfortable."

The topic of discussion at the meeting was what had happened in the months leading up to firings of the US attorneys, and Gonzales recounted his recollection of events before asking for her reaction, according to Goodling's congressional testimony in May. She said Gonzales's comments discomfited her because both Congress and the Justice Department had already launched investigations of the dismissals.

Goodling's account attracted attention partly because Gonzales had told Congress that he could not remember numerous details about the prosecutors' dismissals because he had purposely avoided discussing the issue with other potential "fact witnesses."

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse repeated yesterday a previous statement by Gonzales that the attorney general never sought to influence Goodling's testimony. A White House spokesman also reiterated yesterday that President Bush "fully supports the attorney general," who this week was the target of an unsuccessful "no-confidence" vote organized by Senate Democrats.

The announcement that Gonzales's conduct would be examined came from Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine and H. Marshall Jarrett, counsel of the Office of Professional Responsibility. "This is to confirm that the scope of our investigation does include this matter," Fine and Jarrett said in a letter to senators Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, and Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Fine has the authority to refer cases for possible criminal prosecution; both he and Jarrett can recommend disciplinary action for violations of internal ethics guidelines or other rules of professional conduct.

The revelation further expands the publicly known contours of the Justice Department's internal investigation, which is examining the removal of the prosecutors and whether any laws or policies were violated in the hiring of career prosecutors, immigration judges and others.

Gonzales and many of his senior aides have recused themselves from the matter, but some Democratic congressional aides and legal specialists said the existence of the inquiry strengthens the argument that an outside prosecutor should be appointed to investigate any possible wrongdoing in connection with the prosecutor firings. "It's remarkable that he's under investigation and that he's still attorney general," said Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University School of Law.

In her May 23 appearance before the House Judiciary Committee, Goodling testified that the backdrop of her conversation with the attorney general was her prospective decision whether to transfer to another job or leave the department.

Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.