The House Judiciary Committee has given itself permission to grant immunity to Alberto Gonzales' aide, Monica Goodling. The vote was 32-6, meaning a bunch of Republicans voted with Democrats.
The next step involves a federal court.
The votes instruct a House lawyer to seek an immunity grant from a federal court. The grant would not take effect unless Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., chooses to issue Goodling a subpoena compelling her to testify, Conyers said.
Goodling had earlier refused to testify, using the Fifth Amendment. Apparently she thought she might become the scapegoat in the House's investigation of the abrupt dismissals of eight US attorneys.
Goodling and her lawyer have invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, saying they believe Democrats have set a perjury trap for her. Conyers said Wednesday he hopes Goodling changes her mind and voluntarily tells the committee her story.
"I do not propose this step lightly," Conyers told the panel. "If we learn something new in the course of our investigation ... we can always stop the process s before the court issues an order..."
Muckraker has an update what this means in terms of timing:
It is likely to be weeks before the committee actually gets to interview Goodling. That's because the law requires that the Justice Department be allowed an opportunity to provide its views on immunity -- i.e. whether it might interfere with an existing or possible investigation. If the DoJ objects to giving Goodling immunity, then the committee would be forced to consider whether to defer or delay conferring immunity. And regardless of what the DoJ says, the local federal court has to approve giving Goodling immunity. All this is likely to take several weeks.
More subpoenas have been authorized by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for officials at the Republican National Committee. Raw Story reports that Condoleezza Rice may receive a subpoena today.
