Fifth-Pleading AttorneyGate Official is a Loyal Bushie from Pat Robertson University

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

Five years before the Federalist Society was created to promote conservatism in law and academia, Pat Robertson established Regent University in 1978 to "train men and women for the challenge of representing Christ in their professions." Nearly 30 years later, an alumna of Regent's no-so-esteemed law school made headlines by taking the Fifth over her role in the U.S. Attorney scandal.

Monica Goodling's name barely scratched the surface until she became the most prominent federal official to invoke the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying before Congress since the Iran-contra hearings in 1986. Now Goodling stands out as a conservative, loyal Bushie with dark secrets to hide.

Goodling, 33, graduated from Messiah College, a small evangelical school that does not have co-ed dorms or allow alcohol on campus. She started law school at the respected American University in D.C. only to quickly transfer to Regent University, which is ranked in the bottom tier of law schools by U.S. News and World Report.

What did Regent have that American didn't? The goal of transforming students into "Christian leaders who will change the world for Christ." Appropriately, the university boasts 150 alumni within the Bush Administration.

After graduating in 1999, Goodling began working for the Republican National Committee, where she worked in political opposition research for the 2000 presidential election. While there she met and allied herself with the party loyalists who would help propel her to power.

E-mails released by the Justice Department show that Goodling had a leading role in the firing and hiring of U.S. attorneys and the PR campaign thereof. Documents prove that "Goodling agreed to meet last summer with two Republican activists from New Mexico who felt that U.S. Attorney David Iglesias wasn't doing enough to pursue allegations of voter fraud by Democrats. Iglesias believes the issue was a key factor in his firing."

When Gretchen Shappert was targeted to lose her job as the U.S. Attorney for western North Carolina, Goodling defended Shappert, and Shappert stayed on.

Goodling also worked in interview panels, including the one for Charles Miller:

"They asked me what I'd done to support the president," Miller says. It wasn't a question Miller expected. He told them he'd voted for Bush.

Goodling "was one of the first" to advocate usage of the Patriot Act provision allowing the Attorney General to appoint U.S. Attorneys on an interim basis without Senate approval. Charles Miller was one such appointee, as was the D.C. prosecutor who bungled the biggest tax evasion case in American history.

It seems that Monica Goodling has all the characteristics of a good Bush Administration official: blind loyalty, die-hard conservatism, religious fanaticism, poor judgement, rampant partisanship, and the cowardice to shirk from responsibility for her actions.

The reward for her silence: a voluntary, paid leave from work. (hey, how can we get one of those?)

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

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