New Documents Contradict Gonzales On Prosecutor Firings
It seems every day there’s a brand, new story about a contradiction swirling around Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ original account of the events surrounding the fired Republican prosecutors — so here’s your daily story for Saturday…one that will likely prove to be yet another blow to his credibility:
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales approved plans to fire several U.S. attorneys in a November meeting, according to documents released Friday that contradict earlier claims that he was not closely involved in the dismissals.The Nov. 27 meeting, in which the attorney general and at least five top Justice Department officials participated, focused on a five-step plan for carrying out the firings of the prosecutors, Justice Department officials said late Friday.
And even with an official statement from the Justice Department, the report won’t boost Gonzales’ credibility:
There, Gonzales signed off on the plan, which was crafted by his chief of staff, Kyle Sampson. Sampson resigned last week amid a political firestorm surrounding the firings.The documents indicated that the hour-long morning discussion, held in the attorney general’s conference room, was the only time Gonzales met with top aides who decided which prosecutors to fire and how to do it.
Justice spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said it was not immediately clear whether Gonzales gave his final approval to begin the firings at that meeting. Scolinos also said Gonzales was not involved in the process of selecting which prosecutors would be asked to resign.
On March 13, in explaining the firings, Gonzales told reporters he was aware that some of the dismissals were being discussed but was not involved in them.
This latest news comes as the prosecutors’ mini-scandal has become eclipsed by the House’s vote to set a date for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. But that vote was largely a symbolic one — it’s unlikely to reach President George Bush’s desk and if it does, Bush will veto it and it’s unlikely the Democrats would leave the troops in the field without funding. The case of the prosecutors is likely to be around for a while, particularly if it goes to court (which is likely).
So amid reports calling into question his veracity, Mr. Gonzales is doing what any public official would do:
He’s planning to launch a p.r. offensive, part of it pegged to his ethnicity, CBS reports:
Embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is on a public relations tour to boost his image amid the U.S. Attorney scandal, but strategists from both parties say he needs more than a calculated listening tour to save face.
And, indeed, it could be tough to launch a p.r. offensive with reports surfacing suggesting that he is…veracity challenged. AND:
In a list of “talking points” released Wednesday, a Justice Department official enumerated steps Gonzales is taking to mitigate backlash. They include: a conference call to U.S. attorneys, personal meetings and lunches with senators and members of Congress and an impromptu appearance at the National Hispanic Leadership Summit….….Also this week, Latino groups and law enforcement organizations joined the effort to burnish Gonzales’ image. The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Alliance for Progress Institute and the Fraternal Order of Police, among others, came forward with letters of support Wednesday. They lauded Gonzales’ record as a judge and as a member of the Bush Cabinet and called for fairness in judging him.
The Justice Department confirmed that it helped distribute the glowing letters, but said it did not request them.
So the surge (pardon the expression) of letters of support were spontaneous, but not totally spontaneous.
“Beginning last week, our public liaison office began receiving statements of support from law enforcement and Hispanic groups,” Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said.
And, indeed, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg snarkily notes that what’s notable is the support Gonzales is NOT GETTING from Hispanic groups:
Why isn’t the Hispanic community rallying behind Gonzales? He’s Hispanic. Where is his automatic, race-based support?If a black attorney general were about to be shown the gate, there would be no scarcity of fellow African-American leaders jostling each other at the media trough, ministers and activists and self-appointed spokespeople, all keen to explain how this is a plot, how white America secretly can’t stand to see a brother achieve high position and it is only a matter of time before The Man brings that successful person low.
So why don’t we have Hispanic officials claiming that this is all bias, if not race hatred? Why? I had to know.
“Being one of us is not enough,” said Juan Andrade, president of the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute. “Being Latino does not make you immune from criticism, investigation or even consequences for your actions.”
The bottom line is that Gonzales is damaged goods.
If he survives in office, his clout is significantly decreased. Columnist Robert Novak earlier this week reported in his newsletter that Bush’s defense of him was in effect pro forma and that Bush knows Gonzales is on borrowed time but the plan is to let Gonzales eventually exit on his OWN time.
In other words: rather than give critics (which include Republicans overtly and covertly) the satisfaction of seeing Gonzales leave when they are clamoring for him to leave, the Bush administration will let him twist slowly, slowly in the political wind, criss-crossing the country to generate support for him as a Hispanic leader, holding press conferences about protecting children.
But, in the end, it’s highly likely that Gonzales will join the list of “you’re doing a heck of a jobs” who left the administration calmer climes.
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9 Responses to “New Documents Contradict Gonzales On Prosecutor Firings”
Unbelievable. Gonzales is now playing the “race card”.
His incompetence at handling this entire affair has been extraordinary.
I have made no bones here at TMV about my view that there was ultimately nothing illegal here. Carter fired a US attorney in the middle of his term, at the behest of a congressman the attorney was investigating. Clinton fired all of his at the beginning of his term. Politically embarrassing maybe, but undeniably constitutionally the power of the president.
Yet Gonzales’ stumbling and fumbling on this issue, when he could have simply reiterated precedence and presidential authority, is astonishing.
His mendacity before Congress and the media has resulted in a mountain being blown out of a molehill…and allowed Democrats an opening to fulfill their promise to drown the White House in a sea of investigations.
Attorney-Generals are a star-crossed lot…John Ashcroft, Janet Reno, Ed Meese all come to mind as highly flawed figures…but the incompetence of Gonzales on this issue boggles the mind.
Gonzales must go. I doubt he will…but he should.
I agree Marlow.
The ironic thing of this whole affair, is that the controversy is growing because of the way Bush , but especially Gonzales deal with it.
Five Steps and Five Thousand E-mails Later……
This Patriot Act president is so accustomed to doing everything under the radar, subverting the legal and/or constitutional process, creating rationalization or deniability, and avoiding accountability that he actually believes……
Komrad Marlow – If Gonzalez and DofJ officials lied to Congress and the American people over a political personnel matter, then the lieing is illegal and just plain stupid. Before the November election, this wouldn’t merit any hearings, like the Iraq War intell that Roberts stonewalled for years. W and boys aren’t used to people questioning their incompetence.
Rudi’s got it in a nutshell: they never thought they’d have to answer for this.
And, no, Marlowe, these are not routine firings and hirings “at the pleasure of the President.”
USAs were fired for looking too closely at Republican corruption, or for refusing to concoct false cases of Democratic vote fraud.
That’s not ‘just politics.’ That’s conspiracy to obstruct justice, and obstruction of justice. Those are criminal acts. Impeachable criminal acts.
CaseyL – Without a full blown investigation and special prosecutor, the obstruction of justice issue won’t go anywhere. While this incident stinks, it doesn’t smell that bad. This allows the Democrats to slap down W and his boy Gonzales, nothing more. Something his own party ignored for the last six years.
I agree with Rudy and Casey L- if the WH wanted to avoid subpoenas in the firing probe, they should have been honest from the start of this. Lying before Congress is illegal whether or not an oath is administered. Given that there has been so much mendacity during the initial investigation, why would Leahy’s committee be satisfied by having Miers and Rove come in for an informal, off-the record (meaning secret) interfview? Rove in particular should be questioned under oath, as he barely escaped indictment for perjury in the CIA Leak case.
All of these Republicans who are now touting executive privilege, are really nothing but hypocrites, who 8 years ago decried it when a Democrat was the executive in question.
IMO, there has already been ample evidence of DOJ politicization and tampering in specific cases. In the case against Big Tobacco, the USA was ordered to ask for a smaller settlement, ordered to ask witnesses to alter their testimony, and ordered to withdraw a demand that the CEO’s involved resign. In the Abramoff case, there has been a marked slowdown in indictments due to rampant prosecutorial turnover. There was no head prosecutor for a year, which may be why Tom Delay is still walking free. In Igelsias’ case, a US Sen and US Rep interfered in an ongoing investigation.
Those who think this is a mountain made out of a molehill are also those who thought the Plame case was a political witchhunt.
KR – I think this Gonzalesgate is a molehill compared to the Plame incident. While partisan, it is the W’s right to hire and fire USA. The Plamegate was interference with the CIA, an administration security official testified after Plame that NO(ZERO) investigations were done after Plames identity was revealed. The administratration is slowly dumping documents associated with the USA, very little has been revealed about the attacks on Wilson and Plame.
It is his right, and maybe not too much has been done that is outright illegal, but it is downright unethical to pollute DOJ with political cronies that only need pass a loyalty test. Under this DOJ cases against Democratic corruption have been pursued 5 times more often than cases against their counterparts in the GOP. Past presidents have made their appointments, and then left the USA’s alone. This independence is key to our confidence that justice will be applied fairly-no matter what party you are in.
No president should be allowed to use the appointment power (which should have been done with consent of the Senate) to interfere with ongoing investigations, and demand loyalty over competence from the USA’s.
IMO, it is just as serious.The AG of the US has lied before Congress. If it is indeed a molehill, let them prove it by having W’s aides testify in the open, under oath, instead of hiding behind executive privilege.