"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."
Monday's report also said that Goodling used an Internet search that included the words "gay" and "homosexual" to screen candidates and their backgrounds.
Investigators found that Goodling used the same search parameters as Jan Williams, who served as White House liaison before Goodling. The report said that Williams had used the string in late 2005 and early 2006 to research candidates for positions on a national advisory commission on violence against women.
Since being dismissed, Chiara, 64, has been serving on a national commission investigating sexual violence in prisons. Hagen, 44, has been working in a Justice Department office that oversees grant programs regarding sex offender registration and notification.
Lawyers for Goodling released a statement saying that her testimony before Congress had brought to light many of the abuses included in Monday's report. They described the testimony as "among the most candid and meticulous that has been seen on Capitol Hill in decades."
--
