Eight current, ex-Justice employees to sit for Congressional interviews
 Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, announced this afternoon a deal with the Justice Department to allow at least eight current and former employees to sit for transcribed interviews with House and Senate Democratic and Republican investigators. The first hearing, with Michael Elston, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Attorney General, will occur at 10 AM tomorrow.
However, the agreement could not be concluded without Congressional leaders agreeing that investigators will keep "the content of the interviews confidential pending consultation with Department officials."
Conyers appeared to suggest that the deal would ratchet up the pressure on President George W. Bush to make White House aides available for testimony without subpoenas being issued.
"If we are going to get to the bottom of this, we must talk to those involved in guiding the decision-making process. This agreement, which involves on the record interviews in advance of possible hearings, helps bring us down that path," he said. "We still anxiously await further negotiation with the White House."
In addition to Elston, the Judiciary Committees will hear from Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis, Michael Battle, former Director of the Office of U.S. Attorneys, Monica Goodling, Special Counsel to the Attorney General and White House Liaison, William Mercer, U.S. Attorney for Montana and Acting Associate Attorney General, and William Moschella, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General.
Goodling will continue to invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination.
Conyers is still seeking additional information from the Justice Department. "We still look forward to resolving the issue of redacted and withheld documents that the Department has not yet produced," he wrote.
The letter from the Justice Department to the Congressional committees is available at this link.
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