As the prosecutor purge has transitioned from simmering controversy to full-fledged scandal, the one thing I’ve missed is White House Press Secretary Tony Snow’s unique brand of mendacity. While the president has been traveling throughout Latin America, Snow’s been with him. As a result, Snow has barely talked to the press corps since March 8.
At this morning’s gaggle, which was just a precusor to the fuller briefing we’ll get later, the press corps didn’t hold back.
Q: The president said yesterday that “Al has got some work to do up there” on Capitol Hill, that he wants him to go up there. It seems like maybe he’s leaving it up to Gonzales to save himself, prove himself, or not.
SNOW: No, the president has got confidence in the attorney general. But he’s also made it clear that the Department of Justice didn’t handle properly the notification of US attorneys they intended to find replacements for, the Capitol Hill notifications, in some cases, and furthermore, there was some testimony on the Hill where people weren’t fully briefed on email trails and so on. And therefore, the attorney general, I think, is going to be doing some outreach to members of Congress to explain what went on.
See? There’s no problem here. We’re just looking at a situation in which some officials “weren’t fully briefed.” Never mind the emails that show otherwise. Never mind the constantly evolving (and contradictory) explanations for why the purge was necessary. Never mind the fact that Karl Rove was involved after the Justice Department swore he wasn’t. What we have here is … a failure to communicate. Right.
Q: But they’re saying “at the pleasure of the president,” but he said that he did not specifically know about the cases.
SNOW: No, he did not, specifically. What he does is, as the Commander-in-Chief, he also delegates responsibility to Cabinet officers. And the Attorney General had a recommendation to replace seven US attorneys, and the president said, “okay.” And he approved that decision.
Actually, the list originated at the White House, but let’s move on.
Q: Tony, in the email traffic, loyalty came down as a criteria for employment as a US attorney. Does the president believe that loyalty to him and his administration is an important criteria?
SNOW: No, the criteria — and I don’t want to be a fact witness.
I bet he doesn’t!
Q: How can you say that there was no political element in this, after putting the emails out which detail it very clearly, and which specifically state that the people who were dismissed, the seven of them anyway, were not — I forget the exact language — on the administration’s agenda?
SNOW: No, no, no, what they’re talking about is under-performing in terms of benchmarks that have been laid out in terms of priorities. In one case, for instance, you had disputes over application of the death penalty. When you’re talking about an agenda, this is not talking about doing politics, this is saying that you have certain things that have been specified by the Department of Justice as areas of emphasis and concern…
Q: Even after successful prosecutions by many of these attorneys?
SNOW: No, look, that’s great. But the fact is that you ought to be — not only have successful prosecutions, for instance, in corruption cases, but you also have other obligations and points of emphasis that you also have to meet. This is not an either/or situation. And certainly we have no qualms of the fact we’re perfectly happy with the corruption investigations. People who corrupt public officials ought to be rooted out and prosecuted.
And then those prosecutors should be quickly fired, no matter how strong their performance evaluations were.
Q Why was Scott Jennings, someone in the political shop, involved in some of these discussions?
SNOW: Again, we’ll look into it and we’ll try to get you…
We’re looking forward to it.
Q: In answer to her question about what exactly these people were fired for, you referred her back to the Justice Department.
SNOW: Right.
Q: That’s utter obfuscation.
SNOW: No, it’s not.
Q: In the emails, it’s very clear that they’re fired because they weren’t on the team.
SNOW: No, that’s not true, Bill.
Actually, it is true, Tony.
Q: Is the White House talking to Republican members of Congress to try to stave off other defections with regard to calling…
SNOW: I don’t know, I’m sure there are conversations, but I don’t know that I would characterize it that way. What is going to happen is the Attorney General is going to have an opportunity to answer whatever questions or concerns members of both parties may have.
Q: So they are talking to Republican members of Congress?
SNOW: Look, we’ve got a lot going on right now, Victoria.
Let’s assume, then, that was a “yes” to the question about White House officials chatting with GOP lawmakers.
I hope Snow isn’t leaving the country again anytime soon. I do enjoy his prevarications….