When we last left off, my editor was calling me about Monica Goodling -- York Haven native and erstwhile aide to erstwhile U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez.
It turned out, of course, to be the flap over hiring practices at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Judging from a few off-the-job conversations I had last week, it seems to be one of those mini-scandals that everybody hears about, but few people fully understand. I blame the tendency we journalists have to over-explain things when we report on them. Because it's really not that complicated.
Basically, you've got two categories of people who work at the Justice Department: the political appointees and the career hires.
The political appointees are there at the direction of whichever presidential administration is in power at the time. One of the prerogatives of being president is being able to appoint the U.S. Attorney General, and to set some overarching priorities for the U.S. Justice Department.
The career hires far outnumber the political appointees. They're the ones who handle the nuts-and-bolts functioning of the department, whether the work they do falls into the category of legal, administrative or clerical. And according to federal law and Justice Department regulations, department officials aren't allowed to hire them based on their political beliefs.
Dick Thornburgh, former Pennsylvania governor and U.S. Attorney General, explained all of this to me in a phone interview last week. He was very gracious and patient, by the way.
Ms. Goodling was one of the top aides to Mr. Gonzalez. According to an internal Justce Department report, she and other top aides were asking people about their political affiliation, and refusing to hire anybody they decided wasn't enough of a Republican loyalist.
They weren't exactly being subtle about it, if the report is accurate. They were asking questions such as "What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?" One prosecutor was refused a promotion over rumors of lesbianism. Another because his wife was active in the Democratic Party.
Mr. Thornburgh -- himself a Republican -- said all this is a pretty big deal if the allegations are true. (Note: He made it very clear that he wouldn't give any opinions as to the truth of the allegations, simply because he's in no position to know.)
A lot of it comes down to the basic function of the Justice Department, which Mr. Thornburgh said is supposed to function as an attorney whose client is the American citizenry.
Like a lawyer representing a client, the Justice Department has an ethical mandate to set aside all political opinions, acting solely according to the law and its obligations to its "client." If high-ranking officials within the department were themselves violating federal law to favor one segment of the American population, that would cast serious doubt on the agency's ability to represent all citizens with requisite impartiality.
Or to put it more simply -- the Justice Department isn't allowed to play favorites. Period.
The report didn't mention anything about charges. I contacted the Justice Department, just in case that was an oversight, asking if any charges were forthcoming. I got a very definitive "no comment."
If I were to venture a guess, I'd say that means lawyers are talking to each other behind the scenes. So that phone call Monday about Monica Goodling may not be the last one I get.
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