Tightening Noose

The steam kettle that is the US Attorney's scandal is now well past whistling, it seems it's ready to blow. Somebody is going to roll, and right now my money is on former Counsel to the Attorney General and White House Liaison Monica Goodling. The Justice Department seems to know this as well. They have initiated their own investigation into Goodling.

Goodling and her attorney, John Dowd, found out about the investigation from a press release from the DOJ, and they are not happy about it. Dowd fired a letter off to express their displeasure. Here is the last paragraph. From TPM:

What disturbs us most is that the Department chose to make its announcement about Ms. Goodling in the midst of Congress's ongoing investigation into the Department's affairs, and less than two weeks after the House Judiciary Committee passed a resolution authorizing the House General Counsel to apply for an order of immunity for Ms. Goodling. The timing of your release smacks of retribution and intimidation.

This is where it gets sticky. The House Judiciary Committee authorized Goodling's immunity, but the DOJ must approve it, and Dowd asserts that they may not block it with a parallel investigation. They may however delay it for 20 days. The bottom line is that Goodling is going to tell the Justice Department to go pound sand and will assert the Fifth in their investigation. What she will tell Congress, is quite another thing however, it could be anything.