Comments (30)

Anonymous wrote on April 19, 2007 1:14 PM:

I don't no nuthin. I didn't see nuthin. And I shurely didn't do nuthin.

The decision was mine. It was right.

Security code: wrong.

EH wrote on April 19, 2007 1:17 PM:

Gonzales didn't make up the reasons, Karl Rove did. I believe this is what Graham is trying to cover for.

Steve Hendricks wrote on April 19, 2007 1:20 PM:

Have to say that underlying the amusement of watching Gonzo twist in the wind it is especially galling to think that the testimony is being provided by the Attorney General of the United States rather than the AG of some banana republic.

JoeP wrote on April 19, 2007 1:24 PM:

Lets not give the republicans too much credit for their apparent skepticism of Gonzalez. It's all about nuance. Graham is trying to spin the firings as a personality conflict with the prosecutors. This is a distraction away from the obvious political reasons which are much more significant than mere personality conflicts.

Geoff wrote on April 19, 2007 1:25 PM:

Question : since the politicization of the DOJ was going on under Ashcroft, and he isn't there anymore, and the best it appears we can hope for is that Gonzalez leaves after this grilling, what exactly is this going to accomplish? The organization is still severely crippled by the addition of hundreds of incompetents to the ranks over the past few years, whose main "qualification" was loyalty to a political agenda. How exactly do we get this hearing to focus on the real crime and not the coverup? I just see this as too much of a perfunctory trot the guy out and blow off some steam in his direction, and I dont get the feeling that anything can come out of this that will repair the DOJ in the next two years. The only thing that can fix this is a new President that wipes the slate clean and slowly starts hiring people more qualified to take over and less partisan. Im just disgusted...

Anonymous wrote on April 19, 2007 1:27 PM:

Err ... if the CEO of Banana Republic gave such answers he'd be gonzo.

Code bucket ... loads of ...

Doctor Jay wrote on April 19, 2007 1:32 PM:

There's more that can come of this, though it's too early to tell yet. The testimony and evidence gathered can justify questioning of Rove and Miers under oath, gathering of emails from RNC, and so on. And also, it seems that DOJ hiring practices may well be in violation of civil service laws, I don't know, but I expect that ignoring highly qualified candidates because they show signs of political unsuitability may well be illegal.

It's fine for political employees, but not so good for civil servants, I suspect. But maybe not.

Dusty wrote on April 19, 2007 1:34 PM:

I would like to thank TPMmuckraker for their live-bloging of this hearing and the videos.

You guys are doing a great service for American.

Dusty wrote on April 19, 2007 1:36 PM:

Damn..thats "American's"

love my spam code: public

anonymous wrote on April 19, 2007 1:36 PM:

Gonzalez can't be so stupid that he doesn't realize they're throwing him under the bus. You think Graham is freelancing here? You think the White House hasn't told him it's OK to go after Gonzales? It's not like Graham has an independent streak.

The White House is protecting fish so big that they'll sacrifice the AG. So, who is it? Rove? The Decider himself? I mean, don't these guys serve at the pleasure of the PRESIDENT, not the AG? Didn't the President call him about Iglesias? And then Iglesias's name got on the list?

This ain't rocket science, people.

Security code: memory. LOL.

Anonymous wrote on April 19, 2007 1:36 PM:

Gonzalez leaves after this grilling, what exactly is this going to accomplish? The organization is still severely crippled by the addition of hundreds of incompetents to the ranks over the past few years, whose main "qualification" was loyalty to a political agenda.

Bingo. The damage the Bushies have done to this country- I'm not sure if it will ever be able to be undone. The American people were asleep at the wheel while these evil folks were busy destroying America.

pn wrote on April 19, 2007 1:38 PM:

Agree with JoeP: this is Graham trying to throw Gonzo a lifeline. But Gonzalez has already hitched his wagon to the performance issue, and he's either too dumb and stubborn to spot the helping hand, or he knows he's gone too far with his explanation to try a new approach.

Ian wrote on April 19, 2007 1:38 PM:

What's Graham looking at? His eyes are darting around the room as he questions Gonzo... maybe taking in all the "RESIGN" signs?

Anonymous wrote on April 19, 2007 1:40 PM:

My guess is Gonzales will refuse to come out of the bathroom and go back into the hearing. This guy is getting pummeled. It's almost sad to watch. LOL! Who am I kidding. This has been AWESOME to watch. Let's go Schumer clap-clap-clapclapclap!
Code Word: wood
As in this beatdown is giving me a woody.

Geoff wrote on April 19, 2007 1:45 PM:

Furthermore... let's say Gonzales leaves. Who is going to replace him? Doesn't matter. What matters is who gets to nominate the person, and we know that the type of person they pick wont be any different than the two that came before. Just as Gonzales sailed through the confirmation hearing, so will the next person, saying, "oh dear me, oh no, heavens, I wouldnt use my position for political influence, no, no, no." And what exactly could they do to refute this? Nothing. So a new AG will come in with the exact agenda of the old one. Nothing will change until the administration is disposed of.

If this country doesnt save itself in Nov 08, I think it never will.

uncle vester wrote on April 19, 2007 1:50 PM:

I thought Graham was throwing him a lifeline, too, with whole personality conflict issue, and Gonzo seemed to walk right past it.

Paul Wren wrote on April 19, 2007 1:51 PM:

Once Gonzales leaves, Bush will allow his Deputy to run the department until the next Congressional recess... and then make a recess appointment (Harriet Myers???) to circumvent Senate confirmation.

mo2 wrote on April 19, 2007 1:53 PM:

Graham asked whose idea it was to change the Patriot Act. I want to know more about this.

Anonymous wrote on April 19, 2007 1:54 PM:

Gonzales = Sgt. Schultz from Hogan's Heroes:
"I know NOTHING!"
Code word:
I think we can safely assume Gonzales is a goner.

Candyce wrote on April 19, 2007 1:55 PM:

My favorite bit of the day. "I can't recall the November 27th meeting. We had National Meth Day that week, after all."

seedyrum wrote on April 19, 2007 2:02 PM:

My best of the day was when Specter ask Gonzo about his preparedness. (a press conference where Gonzo alledged he misspoke aboit not being in on meetings or seeing memos etc etc.)Gonzo replied he is always prepared for hearings.
Specter then ask are you prepared for press conferences.

Gonzo said he preppares for press conferences but he mispoke .

Anyone notice that Gonzo always pick up the pen but rarely writes anything or very little.?

lex_rex wrote on April 19, 2007 2:13 PM:

Of course there was a personality conflict between the administration and the fired USAs. Der leader wanted unthinking, lap-dogs, or at least those could hold their noses when doing the Repuke's political hackery; fired USAs had exhibited too much independence and tendency to want to do the justice thing.

buck turgidson wrote on April 19, 2007 2:39 PM:

This did not sound like a "battering"--Graham was giving Gonzo an out and the guy's just too stupid too take it.

Here's where Graham was going:
--If it was about a personality conflict, it's not illegitimate.
--The fact that you made up excuses just shows that you are a loyal employee, taking the heat, not a rogue manager
--Just admit that you made up excuses and we can stop this hearing [ok, maybe not]... We can't demand your resignation if it was just a bunch of white lies
--If we can agree that it's about a personality conflict, we don't have to investigate obstruction of justice

Shorter version of Gonzo:
--I deny everything!

Graham failed in his RNC mission to rescue Gonzo. I guess, the emails are still in play.

Texboy wrote on April 19, 2007 2:42 PM:

You stopped the Graham video too soon. Add the portion where he follows up with the restatement of Gonzales about being able a US Attorney because the AG has lost confidence in the USA.

Maybe it takes someone who understands the Good Ole Boy culture, but Graham seems to be asking if that rationale can't be used to fire Gonzales. Watch Gonzales body language and facial expression. Graham hit him in the cojones and Abu knows it.

Boid wrote on April 19, 2007 2:57 PM:

First post ever to any of the TPM blogs, but I have to chime in with the "life liners". Graham did his best to give Gonzo a weasel-sized hole to squirm through. Guess he can't see the little (R) that C-Span put up, so he stayed in full-defensive mode.

That, and he's a moron.

dasher wrote on April 19, 2007 3:01 PM:

"personality conflicts" is a euphemism for "the USAs didn't toe the line on the Bushie's political priorities"

anonymous wrote on April 19, 2007 3:05 PM:

Graham isn't throwing Gonzo a lifeline, he's throwing the ADMINISTRATION a lifeline.

If the AG admits he's firing people because the AG's people doesn't LIKE them, this makes it all about the AG and the high-school politics of the Justice Dept.

It's an incompetence dodge designed to focus attention on DOJ and spare the administration. It's a new story: Gonzalez hasn't been lying to cover up the joint Justice-White House decision to fire USAs who refused to play politics. Gonzalez was lying because he was hiding the fact that he was doing such a crappy job at Justice that office politics were running amok and USAs were getting fired simply because of petty office personality politics.

It's not a way out for Gonzalez. He'll come out of this with as much dignity as Brownie. And he may even be subject to some kind of civil action if he admits it.

But it's a GREAT way out for the White House. I mean, if this was just Sampson & Monica Goodling hating these USAs--well, then, we can ignore all the dirt that's come up on why these prosecutors might really have been fired. Things like refusing to prosecute innocent Democrats on voter fraud, going after democrats for political reasons, too zealously prosecuting corrupt Republicans, being too low down on a list

Oh, and lets us all ignore the little matter of the President and Karl Rove's phone calls...

What's pathetic is how obvious and pathetic a red herring this is. I mean, "everybody HATED Carol Lam! She was smelly and she dressed bad!" Honestly, that's the best the Republicans can do?

sparkplug wrote on April 19, 2007 3:25 PM:

Patrick Fitzgerald for AG.

Anna S. wrote on April 19, 2007 3:47 PM:

Wow. Graham *spoonfeeds* Gonzalez an explanation, and Gonzalez just won't take it. He needs a way to look sympathetic, look not-as-incompetent and this little plan gives him *everything*. Apparently the AG wasn't in on the plan, though, because he gleefully runs right by it to insist that yes, he is indeed an idiot.

Jesus, I'm a *Democrat* and I admired how neatly Graham offered that lifeline. But, no, the AG is having none of it.

It's a comedy of errors! In every sense of the phrase!

Forever Gullible wrote on April 19, 2007 5:59 PM:

At least now I know the DOJ is a political entity.
I was stuck back in school. You know. Blindfold, scales of justice etc. How naive of me. You'd think I would have learned not to trust them after all that Columbus discovering America BS.