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Posted: 2:33 PM- WASHINGTON - "Political theater" is the term President Bush has used for Congress's inquiry into the firings of U.S. prosecutors. If so, all the actors knew their parts at Wednesday's grilling of Monica Goodling, a once-obscure lawyer suddenly at center stage.
Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee seemed to have agreed on a single script: defending the former administration official and denouncing the Democratic-led inquiry.
Democrats played the aggrieved but dogged truth-seekers, determined to uncover any and all White House officials who helped instigate the dismissals of several U.S. attorneys for allegedly partisan reasons.
And Goodling, who resigned last month as the Justice Department's liaison to the White House, played the misunderstood ingenue, a 33-year-old graduate of a Christian-affiliated law school whose clout and role in the firings were said to have been greatly overstated.
Despite her once-lofty title, she testified, "I did not hold the keys to the kingdom." She recalled that she never spoke, let alone plotted, with White House power players such as Karl Rove or Harriet Miers.
"The person that I read about on the Internet and in the newspaper is not me," Goodling said. "At heart, I'm a fairly quiet person. I try to do the right thing, and I try to treat people kindly along the way."
As she entered the high-ceilinged hearing room, a clattering, unruly throng of photographers reacted as if a visiting Hollywood star had hit the red carpet.
Then, Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., played his part to establish the star witness was there involuntarily.
Who, he asked, decided which prosecutors to fire?
Goodling, taking her cue, replied, "I respectfully decline to answer the question, based upon my Fifth Amendment right not to be a witness against myself."
Conyers reminded her of something she clearly knew: A federal judge had ordered her to answer questions because she had been granted immunity from prosecution. Goodling then read her opening statement and all the players settled into their roles.
Republicans aimed their toughest barbs not at the witness but at their Democratic colleagues.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., called the inquiry "a waste of taxpayers' money," saying a president has every right to hire and fire U.S. attorneys. "With this fishing expedition," he said, "there ain't no fish in the water."
Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, was so peeved by the proceedings that he asked no questions during his first five-minute round. Instead, he read a Los Angeles Times editorial berating Democrats on an unrelated matter involving ethics and spending earmarks.
About the roughest treatment the witness received from a Republican was this from Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia: "Did you ever intentionally try to mislead Congress?" No, Goodling assured him.
The Democrats' posture, meanwhile, ranged from indignant to incredulous to frustrated. After Goodling repeatedly said she could not remember various events and conversations, Conyers asked plaintively whom she would recommend be questioned by "a committee just seeking the facts."
Kyle Sampson, she said, Gonzales' former chief of staff who has testified before a Senate committee but not the House.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, praised Goodling's "extreme loyalty" to Bush, but added, "You might have been better served if you were loyal to the American people."
Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., noted Goodling's repeated references to her Christian education. "What is the will of almighty God, our creator, on the legal profession?" he asked.
GOP members groaned and hissed. Goodling said she couldn't say.