Another key Gonzales advisor resigns

A high-ranking Justice Department official who repeatedly refused to cooperate with congressional Democrats investigating the firings of eight federal prosecutors resigned Friday, the third close advisor to Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales to step down since the furor over the dismissals erupted.

Monica M. Goodling -- senior counsel to Gonzales and the Justice Department’s liaison to the White House -- left with words of encouragement to her beleaguered boss, who many Democrats believe should lose his job.

“May God bless you richly as you continue your service to America,” she wrote in her resignation letter.

Goodling, 33, found herself at the center of the controversy because she coordinated the wishes of the White House with the Justice Department’s decision to fire the U.S. attorneys. In a series of recently released e-mails, she was directly linked to decisions on who would be let go and how the administration would handle any repercussions.

For weeks she has rebuffed demands from Senate and House Democrats to either testify under oath or submit to interviews about her role in the firings.

She said she would not answer any questions and instead would invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Friday night, Democrats vowed to continue their efforts to have Goodling appear before Senate and House committees investigating the degree to which politics played a role in the terminations of the prosecutors.

“Her involvement and general knowledge of what happened makes her a valuable piece to this puzzle,” said Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a judiciary committee member who has helped lead the Senate’s investigation, said that with Goodling’s departure, Gonzales’ “hold on the department gets more tenuous each day.”

But Gonzales -- who has served George W. Bush in various capacities since he was elected governor of Texas in 1994 -- has said he has no plans to step down. And White House officials have said President Bush continues to have confidence in him.

Gonzales is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee this month, and how well he parries the tough questioning expected from Democrats and Republicans could determine whether he keeps his job.

The attorney general has insisted he had limited knowledge of the firings and played only a small role in them, but some accounts have raised questions about his involvement.

D. Kyle Sampson, Gonzales’ chief of staff, resigned last month after becoming a target for criticism over whether the firings were justified and how they were handled. Michael A. Battle, the supervisor in Washington for the 93 U.S. attorneys across the country, also stepped down, though he has maintained his departure was not related to the questions about the dismissals.

Goodling, in her resignation, did not give a reason for leaving.

Her lawyer, John M. Dowd of Washington, said simply, “She has resigned. There is no further statement.”

On March 30, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the judiciary committee, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a panel member, sent a letter to Gonzales saying they did not see how Goodling could remain in her job if, as a senior member of federal law enforcement, she believed she had some criminal culpability stemming from the firings.

Yet, they told Gonzales, “she nonetheless remains on your payroll.”

Dowd, in a letter Wednesday to Conyers and Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (D-Lakewood), chairwoman of the House administrative law subcommittee, indicated that he and Goodling were concerned about testimony Deputy Atty. Gen. Paul J. McNulty gave to the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year.

After testifying, McNulty “privately” told Schumer that he “had not been entirely candid in his testimony,” Dowd said.

Further, Dowd said, McNulty “blamed Ms. Goodling and others for failing to inform him of pertinent facts prior to his testimony.”

Dowd said the allegations against his client could lead to an indictment on charges of conspiracy to obstruct a congressional investigation, even though she never “caused McNulty to give inaccurate testimony.”

richard.serrano@latimes.com