Goodling profile...

Someone who has been making the news a lot lately is Monica Goodling, the DOJ's WH liaison. She was instrumental in making decisions in who gets a US attorney job. In case you were wondering which year she passed out of Harvard or Yale, you wouldn't find her name on those alumni list. She is a graduate of Messiah College and has a law degree from Pat Robertson's Regent University, both evangelical institutions. I found this profile in the Legal Times quite stunning. She comes across as quite the right-wing brownie scout, implementing the Robertson, Falwell world view into our daily lives.

Excerpts:

"As White House liaison, Goodling was part of a small cadre of senior Justice officials responsible for vetting U.S. Attorneys, a position that became far more significant after the 2006 reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act, which gave Justice authority to install interim U.S. Attorneys without congressional approval. She played a central role in the appointment of her one-time boss J. Timothy Griffin, who replaced ousted U.S. Attorney H.E. "Bud" Cummins III in Arkansas. Beyond that, she wielded significant power in determining which U.S. Attorneys would go -- or stay."
"Her tenure at Justice, which began in 2002 in its press operations under then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, tracked what some have seen as a growing politicization of the department, from the purge of career attorneys in the Civil Rights Division to the appointment of young party loyalists, often with little or no prosecutorial experience, to Justice's top levels."

"Goodling graduated in 1995 with a degree in communications and a minor in politics, then started law school at American University. But she quickly transferred to Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., a school founded by Pat Robertson. (The motto: "Christian Leadership to Change the World.") There, she enrolled in a joint public policy master's and law degree program. The school, which was accredited by the American Bar Association in 1996, has a standard law school curriculum, but also encourages students to talk and think about how law interacts with their faith and values.

Susan Richmond Johnson, who attended Regent at the same time, says Goodling already had her sights set on moving to Washington. She was idealistic, motivated by a strong belief against abortion and for equality and justice, Johnson says. "She lives a very faithful and religious life," says Johnson, who later served as White House liaison under Ashcroft, an unapologetic Christian who has taught at Regent. "She doesn't necessarily talk about it. She just lives it."

After graduating in 1999, Goodling landed a job at the D.C. headquarters of the Republican National Committee just as the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign was ramping up. Goodling's position put her inside the newly created war room for political opposition research. There, she worked alongside a crew of party faithful who would later shepherd her through the ranks at Justice."

And of course, a way into the heart is through brownies.

"Goodling often traveled with Ashcroft on tours promoting neighborhood safety and the Patriot Act. Former colleagues say Ashcroft also had a particular taste for Goodling's brownies. She was meticulous and a perfectionist. She was the point person on judicial nominations, often working in the Office of Legal Policy with then-Assistant Attorney General Viet Dinh, says a former colleague."