About two weeks ago, The Politico’s Mike Allen reported that the White House had practically decided to fire Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and already begun putting together a short list of possible replacements. Allen’s article turned out to be largely wrong and the White House made a concerted effort to demonstrate its support for the embattled Attorney General.
Yesterday, however, cracks emerged. Right around the time Kyle Sampson was telling the Senate Judiciary Committee that Gonzales has lied about his involvement in the prosecutor purge, the White House acknowledged that it’s “increasingly impatient” with the AG.
Officials are frustrated that Gonzales is taking so long to get up to Capitol Hill to attempt damage control on last year’s controversial firing of eight U.S. attorneys.
It was on March 14th that President Bush said, “Al was right, mistakes were made, and he’s going to go up to Capitol Hill to correct them.”
Fifteen days later, he still has not made it to face Congress. In fact, he’s not scheduled to appear on the Hill until he testifies before Senate Judiciary Committee about the matter on April 17.
The timing of that hearing was determined by committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), but Republicans at the White House and in Congress think Gonzales should have asked for an earlier hearing or, at the very least, should be meeting one-on-one with key members of the committee.
If Gonzales is looking for signs of job security, this isn’t it.
Indeed, the Wall Street Journal added today:
The White House suggested Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should offer a more detailed explanation of the firing of eight U.S. attorneys after his former top aide contradicted Mr. Gonzales’s earlier statements about his role in the dismissals.
Mr. Gonzales is due to testify about the dismissals in mid-April, leaving the administration vulnerable to attacks until then. The White House yesterday suggested it would encourage him to clarify his statements before then. “Three weeks is a long time,” Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman, said. Ms. Perino declined to answer questions about whether Mr. Gonzales deliberately misled lawmakers, although she suggested that faulty memories could be a factor.
As of yesterday, Slate’s “Gonzo-Meter,” measuring the chances of Gonzales resigning, inched up to 85%. Given the White House’s comments, that seems a little low.