1 Boring Old Man

Obama Justice Department Re-Hires Attorney Fired By Goodling Because Of Lesbian Rumor

In October 2006, Leslie Hagen, who was working as the liaison between the Justice Department and the U.S. attorneys’ committee on Native American issues, was informed that despite her “outstanding” job performance reviews, her contract would not be renewed. In April 2008, NPR reported that the Justice Department was investigating whether Hagen was fired after a rumor reached former Justice Department official Monica Goodling that she was a lesbian.

When the DoJ Inspector General report on Goodling was released in July 2008, it concluded that Goodling was motivated by Hagen’s perceived sexual orientation and “that Goodling’s actions violated Department policy and federal law, and constituted misconduct.”

Last night, however, NPR reported the good news that Obama Justice Department has re-hired Hagen for old position…

Monica Goodling Is Engaged!
February 25, 2008

… Monica Marie Goodling, of Alexandria, is engaged to be married to Michael Krempasky, of Falls Church. The wedding is planned for later this year. The future bride, a consultant, previously served as senior counsel to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and White House liaison at the U.S. Department of Justice. She graduated cum laude from Messiah College and received J.D. and M.A. degrees from Regent University.

Mr. Krempasky is a senior vice president at Edelman, a full-service, global public relations firm. He is also a founder of RedState, a leading conservative blog.

It was just two years ago when Monica Goodling’s reign of terror at the DoJ ended. She’d done pretty well for herself after an Evangelical Christian Education at Messiah University and then on to Pat Robertson’s Regents Law School. She was trained initially by Barbara Comstock in George W. Bush’s Campaign in Opposition Research. And then worked her  way up to senior counsel at the DoJ in charge of hiring and firing. There, she fired Gays, Liberals, and Democrats and hired Republican Christians. Then a year ago, she became engaged to Mike Krempasky, a Right Wing blogger. By now, they might be married and making little Damiens – who knows?

I actually thought of her earlier today [before I read about Leslie Hagen being rehired]. I was reading about the Republicans crowing on about Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer withdrawing. Obama, they said, was incompetent and immoral because his staff missed the manifold sins of their tax evasion. They hadn’t been properly vetted, they said. I thought about Monica for obvious reasons. She was one powerful "vetter." She had a high thresh-hold, just under Bradley Schlozman just down the hall at the DoJ. They smelled "lib" or "lez" and you were finished.

Sexuality Bias Seen at Justice Department
July 29, 2008

… Hagen was hired by Chiara in Grand Rapids about a year after Chiara was appointed by President Bush to lead the U.S. attorney’s office in western Michigan. The women had known each other since they were county prosecutors together in the 1990s. After Hagen joined the U.S. attorney’s office, the women would often commute together to work. Hagen was hired to focus on crimes affecting Native Americans — a priority of Chiara’s — and she was successful, winning an award from the director of the administrative office in Washington overseeing U.S. attorneys.

The report does not address how the rumors about sexual orientation began. The report also says there were rumors that the women "took government trips together" and that Hagen "received large bonuses." But it found that allegations about the supposed financial benefits were never investigated or referred for investigation, and thus remained unsubstantiated.

Lisa Banks, Hagen’s attorney, said Monday that all of the allegations were untrue. "This rumor of a relationship between [Hagen and Chiara] is absolutely false. There was no such relationship, no improper trips or bonuses. It was completely fabricated, based on nothing but malicious rumor," Banks told The Times. Banks said she believed the rumors were started by other attorneys in the Grand Rapids office who eventually landed jobs at the Justice Department in Washington. She declined to identify them.

"Leslie was a stellar performer. She earned a coveted award. It engineered some jealously. Because she was doing well, and because she was a colleague and friend of the U.S. attorney, I think that is probably where these rumors started," Banks said. "Once they were heard by Monica Goodling … that was the end of Ms. Hagen and her career."

After working in Grand Rapids, Hagen was reassigned in 2005 to the Justice Department in Washington to work on Native American issues and was offered a customary extension by her supervisors after a year on the job. Goodling intervened and blocked the extension. The report said that several witnesses told investigators that her opposition was based on the "alleged sexual orientation."

One official told investigators about a conversation in which he told Goodling that he had heard the rumors that the women were lesbians. He said Goodling responded to that news "by putting her head in her hands and asking why no one had told her about this information before"…