Word: mattering
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...national Democratic Party, which would doubtless love to be rid of the matter before the 2008 election, also is watching with great interest what happens in Jefferson's district. "I think the reason that this is disproportionately important is that until now, in political circles, the Second Congressional District office was a New Orleans office," says Stonecipher. "Now, it's about the restoration, the maintenance, the promotion of African-American political interests in Louisiana...
...launched a wide-ranging investigation into the firing of U.S. attorneys last year, and a negative report from him could hurt Gonzales in ways Congress couldn't. Fine's inclusion of the Goodling conversation in his probe signals that he is looking directly at Gonzales' role in the entire matter...
...laid out a little bit of it, and then he asked me if I had any reaction to his iteration," Goodling testified. She told the members of the committee that the conversation had made her "uncomfortable" because she thought both of them might be called to talk about the matter elsewhere...
Democratic Senators have suggested that Gonzales may have been trying to coach Goodling ahead of Congressional inquiries into the matter. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said the conversation had the whiff of obstruction of justice. Leahy and Specter wrote Fine on June 5 to ask whether the Goodling conversation was, in fact, part of the Inspector General's investigation. Fine, together with the head of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility, responded in a letter Wednesday, which dryly said, "This is to confirm that the scope of our investigation does include this matter...
Gonzales's defenders say he did nothing wrong in the conversation. "The Attorney General has never attempted to influence or shape the testimony or public statements of any witness in this matter, including Ms. Goodling," said Justice spokesman Dean Boyd. "The statements made by the Attorney General during this meeting were intended only to comfort her in a very difficult period of her life...