McNulty: “I Testified Truthfully”Tomorrow at noon, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty will testify before a House Judiciary subcommittee about the U.S. attorney firings.
The last time McNulty testified before Congress in February, he made a number of statements that have been revealed to be false, including that the White House had very little to do with the firings. And former DoJ counsel Monica Goodling went after him with guns blazing when she testified before the House Judiciary Committee last month, saying that McNulty had not been “fully candid” in that testimony, implying that he knew a lot more about White House involvement then he had stated. Why was Goodling so aggressive towards McNulty? In a private conversation with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), McNulty had reportedly fingered Goodling and Kyle Sampson as being responsible for his incomplete testimony.
But in his written statement prepared for tomorrow’s testimony, McNulty argues that “at all times, I have sought to provide Congress with the truth.” He goes on:
And I also want to be clear that I do not believe, and have never believed, that anyone in the Department of Justice set out to mislead me so that I might provide Congress with inaccurate information about this matter. To the contrary, I believe that the thousands of documents that have been produced demonstrate only that in the weeks before my testimony, many in the Department struggled with the question of how best to provide Congress with accurate information about the removals of the U.S. Attorneys, consistent with our efforts to protect the reputations of the U.S. Attorneys involved.
So it would appear that McNulty will not be returning fire at Goodling tomorrow.
The full statement is posted below.
McNulty’s full statement:
Madam Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee,
I appear before you today at a significant stage in my professional life. Last month I announced my intention to leave the Department of Justice later this summer. My transition to the private sector comes after more than two decades of public service, including more than eleven years as a lawyer in the House of Representatives and nine years at the Department of Justice. As you may know, most of my eleven years in the House were spent right here as counsel for the Judiciary Committee.
At my confirmation hearing for the job of Deputy Attorney General, I was asked how I would handle a potential conflict between the values of integrity and loyalty. I responded by saying that in my view these values never conflicted; integrity always trumps loyalty. Indeed, Madam Chairman, I have sought throughout my many years of public service to act with integrity by the grace of God in all that I have been called to do. And yes, that includes the many, many times I have been asked to testify before Congress.
When I testified in February before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I testified truthfully, providing the Committee with the facts as I knew them at that time. In the months since then, we have had the chance to review thousands of documents from within the Department, and Congress has heard dozens of hours of testimony and interviews from me and others at the Department. We have learned that my knowledge at the time I testified about the replacement of the U.S. Attorneys was in some respects incomplete. I want to be clear today, however, that at all times, I have sought to provide Congress with the truth. And I also want to be clear that I do not believe, and have never believed, that anyone in the Department of Justice set out to mislead me so that I might provide Congress with inaccurate information about this matter. To the contrary, I believe that the thousands of documents that have been produced demonstrate only that in the weeks before my testimony, many in the Department struggled with the question of how best to provide Congress with accurate information about the removals of the U.S. Attorneys, consistent with our efforts to protect the reputations of the U.S. Attorneys involved. I appreciate today having the opportunity to discuss these matters with the Committee, and I look forward to your questions.
One final point needs to be made. Iâve served in the Department under two Administrations and in many leadership positions, including 4 ½ years as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. I am therefore quite familiar with the work of the Department. It is important for this Committee and the public to know that when it comes to enforcing the law, Justice Department employees are blind to partisan politics. It plays no role in the Departmentâs actions. The law enforcement professionals, lawyers, and staff at DOJ check their politics at the door and investigate and prosecute cases based strictly on the facts and the law. It has been an extraordinary honor for me to be associated with the finest group of professionals that could ever be found serving in a government department or agency. Thank you for this opportunity to testify here today. I am pleased to answer any questions you may have.
