Gonzo, In Grand Bushite Tradition, Throws Another Man Under The Bus

Next up for heavy traffic: The new war czar.

Does anyone else get the decided impression that there are a lot of seasoned professionals, from almost every department of government, who are scared shitless of the Familia Arbusto?

This is not the America in which I grew up.


Gonzales: Deputy Was Pointman on Firings
By LARA JAKES JORDAN
The Associated Press
May 15, 2007; 10:24 PM

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday he relied heavily on his deputy to oversee the firings of U.S. attorneys, appearing to distance himself from his departing second-in-command.

Gonzales' comments came the day after Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said he would step down by the end of summer, a decision that people familiar with his plans said was hastened by the controversy over last year's firings of eight prosecutors.

"At the end of the day, the recommendations reflected the views of the deputy attorney general. He signed off on the names," Gonzales told reporters after a speech about Justice Department steps to curb rising violent crime.

"The one person I would care about would be the views of the deputy attorney general, because the deputy attorney general is the direct supervisor of the United States attorneys," Gonzales said.

McNulty, reached in San Antonio after Gonzales' remarks, declined to respond.

Gonzales has said he most valued McNulty's opinions about firing the prosecutors, now under investigation by Congress to determine if they were politically motivated. But his remarks Tuesday, on the heels of McNulty's resignation, underscored weeks of strain between the two men and their staffs. It also raised questions of whether McNulty's resignation also was ordered, despite his insistence that it was his own decision to step down.

Gonzales, a longtime friend and adviser to President Bush, has so far survived calls for his own resignation. "At the end of the day, that really is a question for the president of the United States," the attorney general said anew Tuesday. "He gets to make that call."

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers from both parties defended McNulty and rapped Gonzales' leadership of the Justice Department.

Sen. Arlen Specter, top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, called McNulty a "professional" and then added: "It's embarrassing for a professional to work for the Department of Justice today."

"It is hard to see how the Department of Justice can function and perform its important duties with Mr. Gonzales remaining where he is," said Specter, R-Pa.

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., questioned whether McNulty was being made to take the blame for the department's botched handling of the firings.

"With this Justice Department, the buck always stops somewhere else, and the fall guy is always the last guy out of the door," said Conyers.

McNulty has acknowledged approving, last October, the list of prosecutors who were ordered to leave. But documents released by the Justice Department show he was not closely involved in picking all the U.S. attorneys who were put on the list _ a job mostly driven by two Gonzales staffers with little prosecutorial experience.

Gonzales ultimately signed off on the list. He said he was reassured by McNulty as recently as March that the firings were justified.

Gonzales called McNulty's pending departure "a loss. ... I'm really going to miss him."
White House spokesman Tony Snow said McNulty's departure would not affect Gonzales' standing with the president.

"Paul also served this country very well and we certainly thank him for his service, but it certainly does not change the way in which we view the attorney general," Snow said. "Instead, what we do is we thank Paul for his service."

Former federal terrorism prosecutor Aitan Goelman, who attended Gonzales' speech, said the attorney general seemed intent on highlighting McNulty's role in the controversy.

"It clearly seemed deliberate," said Goelman, who was hired to work at Justice Department headquarters during the GOP administration of President George H.W. Bush and continued working for Democratic Attorney General Janet Reno. "He took pains to describe McNulty as someone who was closely consulted and in the loop."

Gonzales also disagreed with his former deputy attorney general, Jim Comey, who earlier this month told a House panel that senior Justice aides may have permanently tarnished the department if they, as alleged, hired career prosecutors based on political affiliations.

"Sometimes mistakes happen," Gonzales said. "This is a great institution that always recovers from those mistakes."

Comey, testifying at a Senate panel at almost the same time, said he had a high opinion of Gonzales _ and most of the U.S. attorneys who were fired.

"He was smart and engaged," Comey said of Gonzales. "I did not have reason to question his judgment as attorney general."

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On the Net:
Justice Department: http://www.usdoj.gov/


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....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free