Gonzales Losing Support Of GOP Senators

A man exits a branch of Alpha bank in Athens on Tuesday, May 29, 2012. The four biggest Greek banks received 18 billion euros (US$22.6 billion) in rescue funds on May 28, 2012 to help reinforce their capital bases, a Hellenic financial stability fund source said. National Bank, the biggest Greek lender, has received 7.43 billion euros, Piraeus bank 4.7 billion euros, Eurobank 3.97 billion euro and Alpha 1.9 euros billion, the official said. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) / Petros Giannakouris

Republican support for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales eroded Sunday as key senators sharply questioned his truthfulness, and a Democrat joined the list of lawmakers who want him to resign over the firing of eight federal prosecutors.

"We have to have an attorney general who is candid and truthful. And if we find out he's not been candid and truthful, that's a very compelling reason for him not to stay on," said Sen. Arlen Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Justice Department.

Specter, R-Pa., said he would wait until Gonzales' scheduled April 17 testimony to the committee on the dismissals before deciding whether he could continue to support the attorney general. He called it a "make or break" appearance.

To Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., Gonzales "does have a credibility problem. ... We govern with one currency, and that's trust. And that trust is all important. And when you lose or debase that currency, then you can't govern. And I think he's going to have some difficulties."

Hagel cited changing stories from the Justice Department about the circumstances for firing the eight U.S. attorneys. "I don't know if he got bad advice or if he was not involved in the day-to-day management. I don't know what the problem is, but he's got a problem. You cannot have the nation's chief law enforcement officer with a cloud hanging over his credibility," Hagel said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Gonzales has been "wounded" by the firings. Speaking on Face the Nation, Graham, who is on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said, "He's going to have to come to the Senate and re-establish his credibility, and he's going to have to prove to us that there was a legitimate reason this was poorly handled, because you can't say it was anything other than poorly handled."

Additionally, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called for Gonzales to step down over his conflicting statements on how involved he was in the dismissals last fall. Democrats contend the prosecutors' firings were politically motivated.

Feinstein, whose state lost two U.S. attorneys in the purge — in San Diego and San Francisco — joined a growing number of Democrats and Republicans in calling for Gonzales' ouster. She said she now believes Gonzales has not told the truth about the firings.

"I believe he should step down," said Feinstein, also on the committee. "And I don't like saying this. This is not my natural personality at all. But I think the nation is not well served by this. I think we need to get at the bottom of why these resignations were made, who ordered them, and what the strategy was."

If he's had second thoughts about keeping the nation's top lawyer on the job, President Bush is not showing it, reports CBS News correspondent Joie Chen. Mr. Bush is beyond not budging, ramping up his defense of the embattled attorney general this weekend, even as new documents challenged Gonzales' version of the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

Gonzales has said he participated in no discussions and saw no memos about plans to carry out the firings on Dec. 7 that Democrats contend were politically motivated.

His schedule, however, shows he attended at least one hour-long meeting, on Nov. 27, where he approved a detailed plan to execute the prosecutors' firings.

The White House has stood by Gonzales, saying the documents do not conflict with Gonzales' earlier statements. "The president continues to have confidence in the attorney general," a spokesman said Saturday.

Gonzales maintains the firings were proper, but also has said he relied heavily on his former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, to plan the prosecutors targeted for dismissal. Sampson, who resigned under fire March 12, is scheduled to appear Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is investigating the dismissals.

The committee chairman, Sen. Sen. Patrick Leahy, said he is concerned the Bush administration is trying to make Sampson "the fall guy."

"And yet we find so many emails that contradict what the attorney general has said, contradict what the deputy attorney general has said, contradict what the White House has said. Mr. Sampson's right in the middle of it," Leahy told Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation. "We're going to ask him under oath... I want him to say exactly what happened."

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[homespunlady]

(AP) A federal judge says despite horrifying torture of U.S. prisoners alleged to have been committed in overseas prisons during former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's tenure, his position in the government shields him from being sued.

Okay this tidbit above has NO commetary allowed.
And guess what Gonzales has control over?
This is SO BAD it needs some satire:
Everyone needs a job where they're not held liable for what they do no matter what. We'd save money on prisons. (and they wonder why Jim Webb needs a gun?)

[fizzal-2009]

Gonzalas is probably doing his job that include fireing or laying off people for missmanagement. which is what the people should do when they vote because it seems this congress does not have enough seense to cut the parking lots in half and force car pooling in these masive office buildings and plant trees that produce oxygen, and not condemn peoples property to widen roads and eliminate tax paying properties.

[mikys-2009]

BYE BYE Gonzales!! the token Mexican in the Bush regime has shown his true color- YELLOW bellied sapsucker and BUSH stands by him, of course BUSH sands by all his criminals and cabinet deadbeats as well as idiots like Harriet Myers.
Posted by newster1 at 08:48 PM : Mar 25, 2007

WHY CAN YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THAT THIS KIND OF RACIAL NAME CALLING ONLY BRINGS DOWN YOUR OWN SOUND ARGUMENT.

WHAT'S WITH PUTTING DOWN PEOPLE USING THEIR ANCESTRY? AREN'T YOU ALL AMERICANS? OR HAS THAT ENDED THERE TOO? WITH THE DEMISE OF THE CONSTITUTION?

REALLY - WHY MUST PEOPLE BE SO CRUEL?

[firststate]

Someone in an earlier post asked something about the cost of the investigations into the Clintons. It took Starr 4 1/2 years and cost over $79 Million dollars to finally find something for which he could be charged. The man was on a mission and was determined to find something. After all the accusations the best he could do was charging him for lying about a BJ. The only fact to Starr's credit is that he was at least scrupulous enough to avoid the temptation of framing them for something. If only Duh-baya had learned to lie about things so trivial. Restore the honor and dignity of the presidency my a$$.

[firststate]

The best possible scenario for the administration is to have it appear that the selection of USAs was so inept that 8.6% of their choices were no good and that the DOJ was equally incompetent in its efforts to remedy the bad choices through the firings. The problem is the records of the prosecutors who were fired don't reflect incompetence.

The decision to exercise one's 5th amendment rights can't be treated as indicative of guilt, so Goodling's assertion of that right doesn't infer guilt. The assertion of that right by a person in her position at the DOJ does infer is that she believes that activities at the highest levels of the DOJ have been criminal. Given her supposed knowledge of the law, her concern about possible crimes being committed at the highest levels at the DOJ and that her sworn testimony might incriminate her in them, Freddo (a bushism nickname for Alberto) might look back at his concerns about resigning as being one of the highlights of the year. Any criminal activity could even extend beyond the DOJ. Some members of Congress had expressed concern with their USAs and might have crossed a line.

What have the USAs who weren't fired been up to that kept rove happy? That could be even more interesting.

Freddo's career rise started by getting Duh-baya out of jury duty where his drunk driving record would have come out before the governor's election. The leader of the free world couldn't get out of jury duty on his own, it's underwhelming.

[goldesprit]

In the current attending article about this called :
%u201CGonzales Aide Won't Answer Senate Queries%u201D


There is an important bit of propaganda.

Here is the reporting quote as written:

%u201CPresident Bush did not speak to Gonzales over the weekend.%u201D

How do these reporters know this? Does the President of the United States have any encrypted email, or other ways to %u201Cspeak%u201D with Gonzales without the press seeing? We are supposed to think no one in the employ of the Defense Department could rig this up for the President of the US!!!

Ask yourself why this news organization would want you to be CERTAIN that Bush did not talk to Gonzales in a given time frame.

It%u2019s to help the President distance himself.

It is some sort of trade the reporter(s) is making for future favor from the administration.

Sure we should read carefully, but lets not forget who is slanting the news--it is not just about money anymore.

[stick130]

This administration is the worst I've seen in my 50 years. They make Nixon look like a Saint. It's a shame the 4000 Dead Soldiers paid the price for all the lies this administration told. I would trust a child molester before I would trust Gonzalas to protect my kids,and that will never happen! He can stick his terrorisim threat where the sun won't shine. Lets let the investigations begin. We want to make sure they get the History Books correct when they start printing the hundreds of lies the Bush administration was built on. Bush needs get get back to getting drunk and snorting his coke,that's all he ever did that he was very good at.

[tucson23]

Hear that, Republicans? Now you, too can turn against Gonzales, now that Republicans in Congress are. Because I have NO DOUBT that if all Republicans were standing by their man, not one of you conservatives on this board would disagree. Stupid sheep.

[toldyouso21]

Clarification: Goodling served as senior counsel to Gonzales also--she is no small fry---If they do lay it all at her door (and what better place since she refuses to testify) she may find herself in a criminal invetigation instead of just refusing to answer Congress's questions.

[toldyouso21]

Goodling's Lawyer Dowd may have just outsmaarted himself to the detriment of his client:

Everyone should consider this: Gonzales is alredy set to pass the buck, blame and responsibility to Kyle Sampson for the decision making and the whys for the Attorneys being fired.

What is to stop Sampson from passing the same hot potato to Goodling and claiming she did the research, she came up with the names and the justifications?

With her refusing to testify, she is left holding the bag and either must give up her right to self recrimination or assume whatever everyone places at her door. In such an instance, Goodling would become the fall guy and take the blame while Kyle and Gonzales would only receive reprimands for leaving so much to an underling. At that point, if cause is found, Goodling could face criminal charges, including obstruction of justice and withholding information for failing to give the correct information to McNulty during his testimony before the Senate.

By then, she would be in so much hot water that she could either take the fall or have to speak up---but given her initial refusal, no one would look kindly or trust her testimony and she would be treated as a suspect and hostile witness.

Lawyers. Most of them are not worth the paper their diplomas are printed on.