Novak: Republicans Suspected Something Wrong At Gonzales’ Justice Department

In his latest Evans-Novak Report columnist Robert Novak notes that Republicans have felt for a while that something wasn’t right at Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ Justice Department:

1. Atty. Gen. Gonzales was forced to cancel a trip to the Northeast and deliver an apology for the confusion involved in the firings. He defended the decision as justified, but his chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, resigned. Bush is standing by Gonzales for now.

2. Democrats love the Justice Department controversy, as well as the fact that two New Mexico Republican lawmakers — Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson — have been ensnared in it. Wilson contacted U.S. Attorney David Iglesias during the fall election regarding the slow pace of corruption prosecutions of Democrats. Domenici allegedly called Iglesias at home to ask about the timing of an indictment.

3. This confirms long-standing Republican rumbling that something is rotten in the Department of Justice. Gonzales agreed today to appear on Capitol Hill to defend the firings.

There has been a lot of speculation that a) Gonzales will never resign, b) Bush will tough it out and not ask him to resign and would even reject a resignation call.

However, Novak is well-connected and, if he’s reporting “long-standing Republican rumbling that something is rotten in the Department of Justice,” it confirms even more the growing political void in which Gonzales and Bush are operating.

True, Bush yesterday adamantly declared his support of Gonzales. But will Bush’s soothing words of support turn out to the equivalent of “you’re doing a heck of a job…”? Bush’s strong statements of support for officials in his government often mean that those officials should start sending out resumes.