Conyers to Goodling: Time to talk. Can't Plead the Fifth.

“House Democrats on Tuesday asked a top Justice Department aide to come to Capitol Hill for a private interview in the next week on the firing of federal prosecutors. They said she cannot simply refuse to testify on the matter,” the AP reports. “Monica Goodling, who has said she would assert her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid appearing at Senate hearings, must tell Congress which specific questions she’s refusing to answer, Democrats said in a letter to her lawyer.” Read the full letter at The Gavel.

Goodling's attorney needs to explain to Ms. Goodling the definition of pleading the fifth amendment:

"Taking the Fifth", also known as "Pleading the Fifth", is the act of refusing to testify under oath in a court of law or any other tribunal (such as a Congressional committee) on the grounds that the answers that would be given could be used as evidence against the witness to convict them of a criminal offense.

Witnesses may not refuse to answer questions on the grounds that their answers may reveal matters that may incriminate other persons. Unless the person's answers would incriminate themselves, a witness may not refuse to answer any relevant question put to them.

One of the most famous examples of "taking the fifth" was in the case of Oliver North. Colonel Oliver North was asked to testify before Congress regarding his role in destroying documents during the Iran-Contra Affair. North refused to answer on the grounds that his answers would incriminate him for obstruction of justice.