Eric Lichtblau of the New York Times reports on the Inspector General's findings:

Senior aides to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales broke the law by using politics to guide their hiring decisions for a wide range of important department positions, slowing the hiring process at critical times and damaging the department's credibility and independence, an internal report concluded Monday.

Monica Goodling is singled out for criticism by the IG, which found evidence that she "considered political or ideological affiliations when recommending and selecting candidates for other permanent career positions....These actions violated federal law and Department policy, and also constituted misconduct."

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers wasted in no time in putting out a statement (along with Linda Sanchez) saying that he may use the findings of the report to initiate further action against Goodling. "I have directed my staff to closely review this matter and to consider whether a criminal referral for perjury is needed," Conyers said.

Attorney General Mukasey also issued a statement today on the IG's findings which reads, in part:

"Even as I commend the hard work and collaboration of the Justice Department's Offices of Inspector General and Professional Responsibility on today's report, I am of course disturbed by their findings that improper political considerations were used in hiring decisions relating to some career employees. I have said many times, both to members of the public and to Department employees, it is neither permissible nor acceptable to consider political affiliations in the hiring of career Department employees. And I have acted, and will continue to act, to ensure that my words are translated into reality so that the conduct described in this report does not occur again at the Department."