Monica Goodling, a former top Justice Department aide, improperly used political considerations in hiring career lawyers, according to a report released Monday by the Justice Department’s inspector general.

The report found that Goodling, who served as a senior aide to former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, twice considered candidates’ political or ideological affiliations in the hiring of assistant U.S. attorneys and in selecting career attorney candidates for temporary details to Justice Department offices. In one instance, Goodling rejected a career terrorism prosecutor’s assignment because of his wife’s political affiliations.

“Goodling’s use of political considerations in connection with these details was particularly damaging to the department because it resulted in high-quality candidates for important details being rejected in favor of less-qualified candidates,” the report said.

Goodling had told the House Judiciary Committee in May 2007 that she “crossed the line of the civil service rules” in taking political considerations into account in hiring other Justice Department officials.

The report is one of several investigations launched by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine into Justice Department hiring decisions sparked by the controversy that followed the firing of several U.S. attorneys and ultimately led to Gonzales’ resignation last year.

A report released last month concluded senior Justice Department officials had taken into account political affiliations when hiring law school summer interns and entry-level honors program attorneys. Still outstanding are reports on alleged political interference in the Civil Rights Division and Gonzales’ role in any political interference.

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., said in a statement that he had directed his staff “to review this matter and to consider whether a criminal referral for perjury is needed.”

Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said he would work to ensure “the conduct described in this report does not occur again at the department.”

Fine is scheduled to testify Wednesday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.