Anyone want to pick up a used Attorney General?

In general, there’s nothing amusing about someone struggling to find a job. There are exceptions.

Alberto R. Gonzales, like many others recently unemployed, has discovered how difficult it can be to find a new job. Mr. Gonzales, the former attorney general, who was forced to resign last year, has been unable to interest law firms in adding his name to their roster, Washington lawyers and his associates said in recent interviews.

He has, through friends, put out inquiries, they said, and has not found any takers. What makes Mr. Gonzales’s case extraordinary is that former attorneys general, the government’s chief lawyer, are typically highly sought.

Well, sure they’re “typically” sought after. Most law firms would love to have a former Attorney General on their roster. When a firm is approaching a potential client, and anxious to emphasize the prestige and influence of the firm, a partner takes pride in saying, “Yes, we even have a former Attorney General on staff.” When that AG was rumored to have been considered for the Supreme Court, the cachet is even more impressive still.

But that’s the problem for ol’ Fredo. Everyone knows him, everyone saw his performance as arguably the worst Attorney General in history, and everyone knows the disdain with which he regards the rule of law. He’s not the guy you hire; he’s the guy whose phone messages you ignore.

I suspect there might be some temptation to pick him up, if a firm were anxious to curry favor with the Bush administration, but these same firms know that Bush will be out of the White House in nine months — and a McCain administration wouldn’t care.

Word has it that Gonzales attributes his trouble to a “tough job market.” The economy’s bad, but for the man who was, up until recently, the nation’s chief law-enforcement officer, it’s not supposed to be this bad.

Despite those credentials, he left office last August with a frayed reputation over his role in the dismissal of several federal prosecutors and the truthfulness of his testimony about a secret eavesdropping program. He has had no full-time job since his resignation, and his principal income has come from giving a handful of talks at colleges and before private business groups.

“Maybe the passage of time will provide some opportunity for him,” said one Washington lawyer who was aware of an inquiry to his firm from a Gonzales associate. “I wouldn’t say ‘rebuffed,’ ” said the lawyer, who asked his name not be used because the situation being described was uncomfortable for Mr. Gonzales. “I would say ‘not taken up.’ ”

The greatest impediment to Mr. Gonzales’s being offered the kind of high-salary job being snagged these days by lesser Justice Department officials, many lawyers agree, is his performance during his last few months in office. In that period, he was openly criticized by lawmakers for being untruthful in his sworn testimony. His conduct is being investigated by the Office of the Inspector General of the Justice Department, which could recommend actions from exonerating him to recommending criminal charges. Friends set up a fund to help pay his legal bills.

And firms are reluctant to give this guy a paying gig? I can’t imagine why.

When your most famous quote is, “I don’t remember if I recall,” all that gravitas just floats away into the ether.

  • But that’s the problem for ol’ Fredo. Everyone knows him, everyone saw his performance as arguably the worst Attorney General in history, and everyone knows the disdain with which he regards the rule of law.

    Time heals all wounds. Gonzales will negroponte himself a sweet back-burner position, cash paychecks for ten or fifteen years until the next GOoper administration, then get himself a high-profile job. And the only people who will remember or care will be the senior citizen DFHs and a half-dozen expat bloggers toiling away in a medium as forgotton as usenet.

  • Hey, if Bill Clinton lost his law license, there is no way in hell this torture loving, memory-less, hospital-patient-bullying little lying toady for the Worst President Ever should still have one much longer. And why would a law firm want a disbarred ex-lawyer on staff?

  • All things considered, it is a really bad time to be a real estate lawyer;> He should have chosen a better specialty.

  • If he’s not disbarred, he’ll show up in a small media market advertising “No fees unless he gets money for you”.Even then, I wouldn’t trust him to do a simple title search. His only interest in law is circumventing it.

  • You put a former AG on your letterhead for the cachet. Alberto has about as much cachet as a dead mackerel and even the white shoe Republican wingnut welfare firms like Baker Botts know it.

  • What?? A member of the Bush Administration actually suffering consequences for his conduct? I didn’t think that ever happened.

  • It’s not that people aren’t interested, it’s that every questioned asked in an interview gets the big, “I don’t recall”.

    All that aside, I am surprised to hear that he isn’t working. The same brain trust donating to his legal defense fund should be able to hook him up with some work.

  • Alberto does not need our tears.. He’ll be rescued by the American Enterprise Institute and will be paid a VERY handsome stipend.

  • The headline surely got it right: “used attorney gen.” He was so willing to be used.

  • As much as I would love to indulge in some schadenfreude at his expense, this situation won’t last too long.

    Even if law firms continue to treat him like toxic waste, he’ll get a steady stream of ‘income’ from speaking engagements and impressive sounding positions at right wing think tanks. It’s really what he signed on for, keep silent and he’ll be looked after… the problem is, they own him now. It’s too late for him to come clean, not saying he’s ever considered doing that, because things have progressed beyond the point where he would’ve had any bargaining position… it’s certainly progressed well beyond the point of now return in terms of character and integrity. Not to mention that not only would he continue to be a pariah for what he did and how he covered it up, but his patrons would utterly destroy him…

  • I tried calling 1-800-CALL-FREDO when I suffered whiplash and didn’t get any response.

  • Anyone want to pick up a used Attorney General?

    Only if he’s on top of the Empire State Building—and I’m allowed to drop his mendacious carcass over the side. And yes—i know I’ll get a ticket for littering. I’ll gladly pay the fine!

  • He’ll get a gig at a think tank, a lobby shop or as aprofessor at some law school. Wingnut Welfare will always come through.

  • I’m surprised this discussion is missing the obvious: who’d want someone on their staff who could very likely be facing federal indictments in less than a year? Getting a marquee partner into a firm only works when that name isn’t plastered into cutlines under a front page picture of him being frogmarched away from your legal practice.

    Alberto’s name wouldn’t attract any clients and is likely to scare others away and maybe even lose a few clients who retain the practice. He’d just be plain bad for business. Besides, in all is time in testimony, Alberto never came up with any defense more compelling than saying “I forget.” The guy has no skills other than smirking and lying. What’s not to hate about the guy?

  • I’ve often said, “The only thing I leave this job with is my good name.” ‘Nuf said.

  • Tell Gonzo they are looking for someone to sweep the floor at a taco stand in San Antonio………….. oh, wait a minute,……… they need someone who is competent.

    Hey, Gonzo, you should learn to spell “Buck Fush”. he’s your old friend and he should have all kinds of work for you, you incompetent idiont.

  • Gonzo’s half-life is probably about three months, which means he will remain radioactive for about 30 months. After that he will be hired by some Republican firm with a rich client who feels sorry for him. In a few months some right-wing think tank will make him a “senior” fellow jada jada jada,, and he’ll start appearing regularly on TV. If he remembers to recall to go.

  • Federal law enforcement was never very happy with that clown. The LE commnity (unlike the political community) is smart enough to know that Bush will pardon him for anything he’s even accused of. That is until it is no longer Bush’s perogative. If he is pardoned by Bush, then his the material can be used for state prosecution and civil actions. Bush won’t be there forever. The LE community will be. He’s a particular sore spot because as the chief law enforcement officer of the nation he was a corrupt cop. Long experience has taught the lesson that patience and persistence pay off.

  • Comments are closed.