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Two Bush administration officials who have been linked in scandal are now linked in wedlock.
The union of former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles and Sue Ellen Wooldridge could have implications for the investigation into Griles's ties to ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
They were married March 26, three days after Griles pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about his relationship with Abramoff and a previous romantic partner. Wooldridge was the top environmental prosecutor at the Department of Justice (DoJ) before she resigned in January.
Legal experts note that people can refuse to testify against their spouses, and that in some cases, people can prevent their spouse from testifying against them.
"There have been plenty of cases where marriage was a good strategy for a criminal defendant," said Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University law professor. But he added, "It's plausible they simply picked an odd time to wed."
Such "spousal privilege" can be waived in a plea agreement requiring a defendant to cooperate with an ongoing investigation like the Abramoff investigation, said Roscoe Howard, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, now with Troutman Sanders in Washington.
Griles's guilty plea does not include any requirement that he cooperate in the investigation. It does include likely prison time.
Griles attorney Barry Hartman angrily rejected any notion that spousal privilege had any bearing on Griles and Wooldridge's decision to marry.
"Steve Griles and Sue Ellen Wooldridge got married because they love each other," Hartman said. "Any other suggestion is wrong."
Turley noted that there could be financial disadvantages to the pair's marriage if authorities go after Griles's assets. Griles faces a maximum fine of $250,000.
"By joining their estates, it could result in a greater financial penalty," said Turley, who handles criminal defense cases.
Griles, 59, and Wooldridge, 46, were married by an Arlington County magistrate March 26. The two share a residence off Lee Highway in Falls Church. According to the marriage license, it was her first marriage and his third.
Wooldridge is represented by a lawyer in the matter of her arrangement with Griles and a top lobbyist at ConocoPhillips to buy a $980,000 vacation home. Department of Justice officials said Wooldridge had cleared the purchase with the DoJ.
Wooldridge was a senior aide at Interior, then became solicitor, the department's top lawyer. She moved to the environmental enforcement job at Justice in 2005.
As a senior staffer, Wooldridge provided ethics advice to Griles during an investigation by the Interior Department's inspector general, according to published reports.
The investigation concerned whether Griles had used his official position in dealings with clients of his former lobbying firm even as he continued to receive payments from the firm amounting to more than $1 million.
Investigators learned after their report was issued in 2004 that Griles and Wooldridge had been dating since February 2003.
Wooldridge also advised then-Interior Secretary Gale Norton on the allegations raised by the inspector general. Norton cleared Griles of wrongdoing on two key matters raised by the probe.
In his guilty plea, Griles admitted lying to a Senate committee investigating the Abramoff matter about the extent of his ties with Abramoff, who lobbied the Interior Department on tribal casino issues.
Prosecutors said Griles had a ''personal, and at times, romantic relationship'' with Italia Federici, who introduced him to Abramoff, from 1998 to 2003. Federici runs a Republican advocacy group and has received a "target letter" from the Justice Department.
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