The American Spectator

It has become such a cheap, tawdry, and entirely trite trick for Lefties to accuse conservatives of being “McCarthyite” that it brings a rather guilty pleasure to see lefties hoist on this own particular petard of theirs. Such is the case with the letter written by John Dowd, the attorney for Department of Justice aide Monica Goodling, in his letter to House Judiciary Comittee Chairman John Conyers explaining why Goodling will continue to insist on availing herself of her Fifth Amendment privileges in the matter of the eight replaced U.S. Attorneys. Dowd — previously famous as the hero who led the investigation into Pete Rose’s gambling — complained that Conyers and Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy had suggested that Goodling’s 5th Amendment claim was a sign that she herself might have participated in criminal activity. Those suggestions, Dowd noted, “are unfortunately reminiscent of Senator Joseph McCarthy, who infamously labeled those who assertd their constitutional right to remain silent before his committee ‘Fifth amendment Communists.’”

Dowd went on to explain why Goodling is asserting her right, noting the outrageous comments of those chairmen and others that cast aspersions on Ms. Goodling. Dowd also noted that Deputy AG Paul McNulty (who increasingly, along with lefty career Justice guy David Margolis, appears to be the skunk in this whole affair) had blamed Goodling for his own inaccurate testimony. “These are precisely the kinds of circumstances in which even innocent persons are well advised to assert their right not to respond to questions,” Dowd accurately wrote.

As others on the page have noted (I think it was primarily the Prowler who did so), Goodling is very worthy of conservative defense in this whole mess. As was seen with Scooter Libby, the crazy “gotcha” mentality of Washington these days makes it perilous for anybody to testify in good faith in a matter where political actors are out for blood.

Certainly, everything I hear about her is good. It is a crying shame that a combination of DoJ bumbling and Demcoratic bloodlust (and media overkill) makes good people like her feel so threatened.