Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who testifies before the House Judiciary Committee today, believes he has “weathered the storm.” He was caught in the midst of a massive scandal he still can’t explain, his Justice Department is divided and dysfunctional, and he’s lost the trust of pretty much everyone who has objectively considered the facts, but Bush is satisfied — so Gonzales is “confident” that he’s going to stay right where he is.
The embattled AG is assuming the scandal isn’t going to get worse. Purged U.S. attorneys John McKay and David Iglesias believe that the scandal will not only grow more intense, but that criminal charges are likely.
“I think there will be a criminal case that will come out of this,” McKay said during his meeting with Times journalists. “This is going to get worse, not better.”…
McKay said he believes obstruction-of-justice charges will be filed if investigators conclude that the dismissal of any of the eight prosecutors was motivated by an attempt to influence ongoing public-corruption or voter-fraud investigations….
Additionally, McKay and Iglesias said they believe Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty lied under oath when they testified before Congress that the eight prosecutors were fired for performance-related reasons and because of policy disputes with Justice Department headquarters.
McKay relayed an anecdote that when Gonzales first became Attorney General, he addressed all of the nation’s U.S. Attorneys at a gathering in Arizona. He told them, “I work for the White House; you work for the White House.” McKay said he thought at the time, “He couldn’t have meant that speech,” given the traditional independence of U.S. Attorneys. “It turns out he did.”
And yet, despite all the evidence, and all the opposition, House Republicans have decided to try a new strategy — offer Gonzales their full-throated support.
Subscription-only Roll Call reported that Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee today will demand an end to what one called an “endless piscine expedition” in the purge scandal.
[U]nlike the Senate, where Republicans generally have been tough on Gonzales, House GOPers intend to call for an end to the wide-ranging probe that has consumed the Justice Department since the start of the year.
“We’re going to make it clear it’s time to let the attorney general get back to work,” said Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the ranking member on Judiciary.
The degree of shameless hackery is almost impressive. These guys wait until new evidence emerges of wrongdoing and then they announce that the investigation should come to an abrupt halt. So much for the law and order party….
As for Gonzales’s current standing, the NYT article about the AG’s sense that he’s sticking around suggests the Justice Department has been damaged by the scandal, with resignations, divided loyalties, and a total lack of leadership.
Mr. Bush’s press secretary, Tony Snow, said Wednesday that the president “still supports the attorney general fully and wholly.”
Of course he does. Just a few weeks ago, Gonzales’ resignation was a foregone conclusion. A Republican with close ties to the White House said Bush and Gonzales were “the only two people on the planet Earth who don’t see” the need for the AG to step down. The Senate hearing in which Gonzales was supposed to save his skin turned out to be a disaster.
But, again, the Bush gang rejects political norms. Our political system is supposed to follow certain unwritten political “rules.” When a cabinet secretary screws up, creates a scandal, becomes a distraction, loses the nation’s confidence, and possibly engages in criminal behavior, he or she is supposed to resign. If a resignation isn’t offered, a president is supposed to ask for it.
But this president doesn’t concern himself with these “rules.” Donald Rumsfeld, Alphonso Jackson, and Rod Paige proved that the president is more than willing to tolerate cabinet secretaries staying on far too long.
Gonzales has become the most reviled man in the administration, after having been caught lying and losing control of the Justice Department. The rules say Gonzales has to go. Bush, meanwhile, is The Decider — and The Decider doesn’t much care about the rules.
A month ago, the New York Daily News quoted a “senior Republican” saying, “[Bush] wants to fight, but that will change because it has to.”
I can almost hear Bush saying, “No, it doesn’t.”