Bloomberg News: Gonzales's Hold on Job Slips Over Prosecutor Firings

Gonzales's Hold on Job Slips Over Prosecutor Firings
By Robert Schmidt

March 15 (Bloomberg) -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's hold on his job is slipping after President George W. Bush, his chief benefactor, said he has some explaining to do and a Republican senator joined Democrats in urging him to step down.

The political uproar over the Justice Department's handling of the dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys escalated as Bush ordered Gonzales to Capitol Hill to patch up relations with lawmakers. Members of Congress say they were misled by Gonzales, who termed the dismissals non-political before administration e- mails released this week showed the White House was behind them.

Recent testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee by Gonzales and his top deputy, Paul McNulty, was ``at best misleading and inaccurate,'' the panel's chairman, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, said today. ``I would not be surprised,'' Leahy said at a committee meeting in Washington, if Gonzales sends him a letter retracting testimony he gave on Jan. 18.

The Judiciary Committee, by voice vote, authorized subpoenas for one former and four current Justice Department officials to testify on the firings in case they are needed. The Bush administration has indicated it will permit the current officials to testify voluntarily.

Senator John Sununu of New Hampshire became the first Republican in Congress to call on the president to fire Gonzales, saying yesterday the controversy harmed his ability to run the Justice Department. While Bush said he supported his attorney general, Gonzales found few defenders among other Republicans.

"The attorney general has clearly misled Congress and the American people by suggesting the White House was not the originator of the idea to remove the U.S. attorneys,'' said Bruce Fein, a Washington lawyer and former associate deputy attorney general under President Ronald Reagan. "He needs to resign.''...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=a6FxJSpJLJK0

Ya gotsta lie a lot better'n that to be on my team, Gonzo... heh heh...

he might "retract"), I believe, might feature him - um - ahem - er - LYING UNDER OATH!!!!

I wrote a column about this last night, for your consideration...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3163069

err, testimony." It would be a real hoot in a court of law -- and it may well be so yet.

If you refuse to step down we can really work this thing for a few months.

explain to chimp, cheney, and rove how their plan to fire the "disloyal" attorneys blew up in their faces. Everything else they already know.

The Administration must be such a fun sit-com these days.