June 15, 2007 (LPAC)--Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is under investigation in a possible witness-tampering and obstruction of justice matter, by the Justice Department's own Inspector General and its Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), it was disclosed yesterday.

In a letter to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and to the senior Republican on the committee Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the heads of those two DOJ units confirmed that their previously-opened investigation of the firing of U.S. Attorneys, does now include Gonzales's conversation about the firings with former DOJ White House liaison Monica Goodling.

When Gonzales himself testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 19, he tried to explain his poor recollection of events by stating that "I haven't talked to witnesses because of the fact that I haven't wanted to interfere with this investigation and Department investigations."

However, when Goodling testified before the House Judiciary Committee on May 23, under a grant of immunity from prosecution, she said that Gonzales had discussed his recollections of the U.S. Attorney dismissals with her, and had asked her for her reactions. Goodling said the discussion made her "uncomfortable," explaining, "I did not know if it was appropriate for us to both be discussing our recollections of what had happened, and I just thought maybe we shouldn't have that conversation."

Leahy and Specter had sent a letter to the two internal watchdog units on June 5, asking if the scope of their inquiry included the Gonzales-Goodling conversation, and the reply received yesterday stated that "the scope of our investigation does include this matter."

Referring to the fact that earlier, the White House had shut down an OPR probe of the DOJ's role in Cheney's domestic wiretapping program, by denying security clearances to OPR investigators, Leahy issued the following statement yesterday:

"The last time an internal investigation at the Department of Justice got too close for comfort the White House shut it down. I hope this investigation will not suffer the same fate as the OPR inquiry into the warrantlesss wiretapping program. This internal investigation is an important step in getting to the truth behind this matter, and they should be allowed to do their jobs without interference from this Administration."