House Judiciary Subpoenas Goodling

The House Judiciary Committee authorized a subpoena Wednesday for Monica Goodling, a former top aide to embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, granting her immunity from further prosecution for what she says before the panel.

Goodling served as the attorney general’s top liaison with the White House during the deliberations over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys. She resigned abruptly last month after threatening to invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in an attempt to avoid testimony before the committee.

The committee postponed its vote last week at the request of Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the panel’s ranking Republican.

“Taking this step will compel her to testify, under penalty of contempt, but under the protection that information she provides to us under compulsion could not be used against her for any prosecution, as long as the information is truthful,” Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) said in his opening statement Wednesday morning.