Paul Kiel is going to be providing detailed coverage of the Goodling testimony at TPMmuckraker, as we’ve discussed. But just on first glance, beside calling Paul McNulty a liar, Goodling’s line is that, like everyone else, she really didn’t have much of anything to do with compiling the firing list.
Late Update: Here’s Goodling’s opening statement. Here’s Paul Kiel’s initial analysis of her statement.
In big foreign policy speech today, John Edwards will emphatically reject the notion of a “war on terror,” deriding the phrase as a “bumper sticker” slogan.
Late Update: The full text of Edwards’ speech is right here. How’d he do?
Goodling: “It just snowballed into a not good situation.”
Goodling, DOJ liaison to the White House: “I can’t give you the whole White House story.”
It’s interesting to note how the House Republicans continue to praise Monica Goodling for her testimony even as she admits to repeated criminal acts (namely, using partisan affiliation as a criterion for hiring career employees).
Joe Klein versus Bob Shrum — the smackdown!
Shrum, who was John Kerry’s top strategist in 2004, is about to release a memoir about his campaign experiences that contains some pretty surprising assertions about Time magazine’s Klein.
Now Klein, in an email to us, has responded to Shrum’s charges — and his reply sheds some interesting light on Klein’s personal relationship with Kerry.
The worst news for Alberto Gonzales in the testimony today: Goodling testified that one week after Congress requested to interview her, Gonzales laid out to her in a private discussion what his memory of the firings was. In other words, it sounds like the AG was trying to get their stories straight.
Monica Goodling: Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty was “not fully candid” in his testimony to Congress last February.
McNulty: Oh, yes I was.
Edwards slammed the phrase “war on terror” in his speech today — but he’s repeatedly used the term himself in the past.
An Edwards campaign adviser explains why his views of the phrase have changed.