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Gonzales Backpedals on Lam Testimony
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) returned to the question of the hour, which is how Alberto Gonzales could sign off on the firings not knowing the reason that the U.S. attorneys were being fired and who specifically had made the decision to add each one to the list. "It would seem to me you'd want to know," Feinstein said.
Gonzales reprised earlier answers, that he'd relied on the judgment of senior leadership in the department, particularly the deputy attorney general. Feinstein countered by saying that when most people hear "senior leadership," they think of men with "grey hair," but that in Gonzales' department these were young, often "very ideological" people.
Gonzales suddenly swerved back to his earlier remarks about Carol Lam, and backpedalled. "I believe based on my review of the documents," he said "that there was an interest in her performance. I don't know if Ms. Lam knew that the Justice Department had those specific concerns."
"I expected that my concerns... would be communicated to Ms. Lam," he said. But, of course, they weren't. Gonzales didn't indicate if he ever actually told anyone to talk to her.
The weird thing is, HE KNEW THAT THEY WOULD ASK THESE QUESTIONS. There's no way that he didn't know that this was coming. What was he doing during the time he was prepping for this hearing? He should have an answer to these questions memorized, not be swapping betwen two or three different ones.
April 19, 2007 4:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice to see someone surfacing the issue of all the young, inexperienced people serving in high places within DoJ. It's not surprising that Gonzo quickly changed the subject.
The Bushies have spent so many years saying ludicrous things and getting away with it (thanks to a compliant MSM) that they don't know how to even lie well...
April 19, 2007 4:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Anna, I think it comes down to that he doesn't have any good answers to these questions. He can't tell the truth. The lies are weak. Accordingly, all he can do is fumble about and repeat himself.
April 19, 2007 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, check out the CBSnews on-line polls. I think there's something a bit wrong there.
Headline on the homepage: 36% Say Gonzales Should Quit
Headline on the inside page: 36% Say Gonzales Should Quit
However, take a look at the polling stats in the article and the graph below. It's exactly the opposite. In fact, no matter how you spin it most people say the AG should quit. Weird. And it's not only the headlines, the subheads are wrong as well.
Code: jewel, as in CBS has given all of us a jewel.
April 19, 2007 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Somebody woodshedded him on the lunch break and told him he'd screwed up on Lam and that he needed to fix it. I'm sure the extended lunch break was orchestrated by the Republicans and those sympathetic to the AG, in order for them have more time to tell him where he'd screwed up so he could try to correct it in the afternoon.
April 19, 2007 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
what's everyone's thinking here - does the hearing have the ameliorating effect of lancing an abcess?
or is gonzales gone?
I just don't see bush telling him adios.
...
April 19, 2007 4:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
shorter Gonzo - "everybody knew but nobody knew"
April 19, 2007 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
C Turner:
I agree that his previous statements put him between a rock and a hard place.
Even so, his legal team should have settled on one answer, and have him declare all others 'misspeakings' or the like. I mean, Graham fed him an out this morning, Graham was a JAG lawyer and he (or his team) came up with that one. Surely Gonzalez's legal team could come up with something that he could stick to. In cases like this, he'll get battered less if he sticks to one answer, even if it doesn't necessarily reconcile *all* of his prior statements.
April 19, 2007 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Truely amazing. Here we have the top law enforcer in our land sitting there lying and making up stuff. Amazing stuff really.
April 19, 2007 4:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
2 minute video clips, 5 word soundbites, blog entries that pick and discuss sentences from a testimony that's been lasting a whole day. Are we staring at trees that we don't notice we're in a forest?
April 19, 2007 4:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
This should have been the Sheldon Whitehouse show. Everyone should just yeild their time to him.
April 19, 2007 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let's face it, Gonzalez's testimony to Feinstein on this point basically shows that AG AG is relegating performance feedback for USA's to GOP players in the respective districts! That is how he could think that Lam knew that immigration was important..and why AG AG needs to be gone post-haste; he relegated his own responsibility in the Executive Branch to Republican elected officials whose responsibility it is for oversight but not to make individual decisions based on electoral hopes in their respective States! What a doof! It's kind of like the Unitary Executioners telling the Congress that, gee, we depend on the Republican Party in the districts to tell our USAs what's important to keeping your job!
Justice schmustice! This is partisan strong-arming and the firings demonstrated how the political pressure worked, in spades, to the rest of the remaining USAs.
April 19, 2007 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
I want Gonzo the Dumbo gone. However, if he isnt there will always be a cloud over the DOJ, the White House, and Karl Rove. Thats bad for all entities. A scandla that keeps on giving and giving and giving. Although, they may clean up theri act and include more Republican conrriuptions in their cases ( well to make it look non partisan) but but but these are ideologues so chances are any cases brought will be lost as these attorneys are unproven and not gotten their jobs on MERIT.
I want to know now Bush thinking is any different from Radical Islam?
Bush has managed to tear up the Constitution, Democracy ( the same Democracy he wants to put in place in Iraq, "give me a break"), the judicial system.
In Bush's mind he thinks he is right as do the Islamic terrorists.
What is different between the two
Bush wants to torture, they torture
Bush wants to spy, they spy.
Bush wants to attack attack attack, they want to attack attack attack.
Bush wants to tear down Democracy, they dont want Democracy
Bush thinks his way is the the want and the only way, They think their way is the way and the only way.
I ask what is the difference between the two??
Ideologoe is still Ideologue.
Bush is going against the will of the majority of Americans.
April 19, 2007 4:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seedyrum: Bush can afford better suits.
April 19, 2007 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Firstly, I can't spell.
I think whomever commented that they just don't know how to lie well is correct, they've never had to. Without beating the dead horse of no oversight, there has been no oversight. They do not understand the concept of being responsible. Instead of cementing a perm rethug majority, Bush (Rasputan/Rove) is on his way to the opposite (I hope). Indpenedents (whomever they are) want performance. They'll swallow some partisan sillyness if, in the end, the job get's done (or perceived to get done). Gonzo is simply incompetent. He is not up to the job intellectually as eveidenced by his inability to keep his stories (lies) straight and the whole farce was exposed. His stars from Regent U (wtf ?) & the like are ridiculous. But this is par for the course . . . brownie, rumsfeld, harriet, I know there more . . .
April 19, 2007 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
CNN Top Stories RSS Feed and Homepage show two
related items:
1 Navarrette: Will Gonzales get a fair hearing?
(concluding that "there is no sign of the fairness." in these hearings)
2. Gonzales: No partisanship at justice
(just now replaced by "GOP senator urges Gonzales to quit").
Both indicate where CNN's sympathies lie; the latter replacement message shows, that they cannot ignore the obvious any more. But except for a mention of Kohl and Durban, only Republicans are mentioned. If you rely on CNN, only Republicans ask the "Tough Questions" (Subheader reads:
"Tough questions from ranking Republican").
So we can safely conclude, that CNN is now FOX lite, or also a member of the GOP media.
I commend this blog should be for keeping this story in the spotlight, and highlighting the continuing failures of the corporate media.
April 19, 2007 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't help thinking that Colburn and other (R)'s want Gonzo gone just to stop the bleeding. They don't care what kind of a job he's doing but he's making them look real bad right now.
The longer Gonzo twists in the wind the more likely someone will come up with a connection between the firings and Rove. If that happens then things will get real messy for the WH. The best thing that can happen for the Republicans is Gonzo quiting tomorrow morning. Now that I think about it Friday is bury the news day so it may happen.
Security code "fear" and I certainly saw a lot if it in AG eyes today.
April 19, 2007 5:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
It remains unsaid: Who made this list? Who proposed the unconfirmed appointment amendement to Homeland Security? What did Bush tell Gonzales specifically about Iglesias? There is still too much wiggle room in the questions. It is still to easy to say (in effect) this is a big bureaucracy and I don't know where the list or the ideas really came from? Who in fact is the senior leadership within the Department that Gonzales keeps referring to? They have names and they should be called to testify.
April 19, 2007 6:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
A constant theme in the comments is how ill-prepared Gonzales is. That assumes that Gonzales was competently prepped for the hearing. Given the evidence of DOJ hiring practices since he became AG, Gonzales is just reaping the benefit of his enthusiastic youthful faith-based advisors who are unconcerned about the opinions of the secular, morally bankrupt, Democratic Congress.
April 20, 2007 12:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not sure I've seen anyone mention the incongruity of the DoJ claiming that some USAs were fired because they were letting subordinates run their offices, a fact that Gonzalez can't confirm because he was letting his subordinates run his office.
April 20, 2007 2:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder what republican California congressman Jerry Lewis has on Gonzales?..Lets get that FBI agent before the committee, the one who was in charge of the San Diego office and resigned when critized by Meuller for saying that Carol Lam's forced resignation was politically motivated. That should be a doozy of an event.
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