He's already blamed (the now fired) Kyle Sampson for the way the firings were handled, so Gonzales really didn't apologize for anything he did.
It shouldn't have happened," Gonzales said, according to one lawyer familiar with the conversation. The lawyer, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the matter, said Gonzales acknowledged that he'd seemed too detached during his news conference earlier this week. He told the prosecutors that he "should have known" about the dismissal planning by his former chief of staff.
"I want you to feel like you can be open with me," Gonzales told the attorneys, and he gave his assurance that their independence was expected and that they wouldn't be punished.
Right. They're going to trust the smirking asshole from hell after 8 of their colleagues were pushed out for political purposes? And they're supposed to believe that he didn't know what was going on? Let's get real. He knew before he was even made attorney general that firings were being planned.
Sampson, the fall guy, decided to fight back on Friday by issuing a statement that was then revised on Saturday.
Statement #1 released by his lawyer:
"Kyle did not resign because he had misled anyone at the Justice Department or withheld information concerning the replacement of the U.S. Attorneys. He resigned because, as Chief of Staff, he felt he had let the Attorney General down in failing to appreciate the need for and organize a more effective political response to the unfounded accusations of impropriety in the replacement process. The fact that the White House and Justice Department had been discussing this subject for several years was well-known to a number of other senior officials at the Department, including others who were involved in preparing the Department's testimony to Congress. If this background was not called to Mr. McNulty or Mr. Moschella's attention, it was not because any of these individuals deliberately withheld it from them but rather because no one focused on it or deemed it important at the time. The focus of preparation efforts was on why the U.S. Attorneys had been replaced, not how."
The revised statement:
"Kyle did not resign because he had misled anyone at the Justice Department or withheld information concerning the replacement of the U.S. Attorneys. He resigned because, as Chief of Staff, he felt he had let the Attorney General down in failing to appreciate the need for and organize a more effective response to the unfounded accusations that the replacements were improper."
"The fact that the White House and Justice Department had been discussing this subject since the election was well-known to a number of other senior officials at the Department, including others who were involved in preparing the Department's testimony to Congress. If this background was not called to Mr. McNulty or Mr. Moschella's attention, it was not because any of these individuals deliberately withheld it from them but rather because no one focused on it at the time. The focus of preparation efforts was on why the U.S. Attorneys had been replaced, not how."
Gone is the language "political" response.
Meanwhile, the Justice department has still not turned over documents asked for by congress. Monday, they say. I can almost hear the hard drives whirring and the paper shredders churning.
A Newsweek poll shows "weak" support for Gonzales.
The NEWSWEEK poll results offer little good news for Gonzales, who faces pressure to resign from Democrats and a handful of Republicans. Fewer than one third (32 percent) of those surveyed want him to stay remain in his job, while slightly more than one third (35 percent) say he should quit. Another third say they don’t know what Gonzales should do as a result of the slow-burning controversy.
What the Democrats need to do is make it a fast-burning controversy so they can get rid of Gonzales. This is not time to be timid. We're talking about a man who found legal excuses for torture. He should have been set out on his ass just for that but the more conservative (blue dog) Democrats actually supported his nomination regardless.
They have their chance now. They'd better not blow it.
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