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Thursday 
15 March 2007
gonzales: the white house evasion
in which the story lines get crossed…and double-crossed.
Q: Does the president believe that it was appropriate to fire some of these prosecutors?
SNOW: Yes, absolutely. Look, there are a couple of things to keep in mind, Toby. First, US attorneys serve four-year terms. And then there’s a holdover provision. So in each of these cases, the four-year term had expired, and it’s perfectly appropriate for people who work at the pleasure of the president to be replaced at the pleasure of the president. So yes, it’s perfectly appropriate.
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.
the contradictions keep piling up.
so far we’ve heard bush approved the firings, but didn’t know why. we’ve also heard he spoke to gonzales about complaints from congressional republicans about u.s. attorneys. but bush didn’t name any of the attorneys specifically.
now we hear that bush signed off on firings recommended by gonzales…but as we heard from the a.g. himself, gonzales was out of the loop on the firings.
the politicization of the justice department undermines the rule of law, which is what keeps our country intact. but the question has been raised, “where’s the criminality in all this?”
the answer is that the firings may be associated with obstruction of justice and conspiracy.
were ongoing cases disrupted by the firings? what about carol lam’s investigation of rep. jerry lewis? what about the u.s. attorney in guam, whose case against jack abramhoff evaporated once he was fired? what other cases fit this profile?
further, what about the attorneys who weren’t fired? what political quid pro quo took place to keep them off the hit list? what about the bogus menendez case in new jersey?
finally, what about that little issue of lying, under oath, before congress? there’s a word for that…what is it…oh, yeah: perjury (and maybe obstruction as well).
* * * * *
update: gonzales is finished…and rove is in the crosshairs.
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