Goodling immunity vote pushed back

The House Judiciary Committee Wednesday postponed a vote on whether to grant immunity to Monica Goodling, a former Department of Justice official, in return for her testimony in the investigation of the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

“At the request of our ranking minority member, Lamar Smith (R-Texas), I have announced a one-week delay in the committee vote to apply for immunity for Monica Goodling,” Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) said. “It is my hope that a short delay, agreed to in the spirit of bipartisan cooperation, will enable the minority to join us in taking this critical step in our efforts to uncover the truth about why the U.S. attorneys were terminated and what it means for the integrity of federal law enforcement.”

{mosads}Goodling was the Justice Department’s former White House liaison. She resigned after the firing of the U.S. attorneys became the focus of congressional investigations and announced she would invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination if asked to testify.

In response, Conyers, who believes Goodling could help the committee shed more light on the issue, sought to get her an immunity deal in exchange for testimony. However, two-thirds of the panel’s members would have to agree to such a deal.