Thursday, April 19, 2007

Gonzo Hearing

Here's Charles Schumer on what A.G. Abu Gonzales must do today to keep his job:

“He has to show us explicitly and clearly and without contradiction why these seven attorneys were fired,” Schumer told reporters. “Answers like, ‘I don’t know,’ ‘I don’t recall,’ and indirect answers are just not going to do."

“Hazy recollections are not going fly. Vague answers will not clear up the many contradictions. Saying someone else was responsible or in charge just won’t wash when you are the attorney general of the United States,” Schumer added.
If that's the bar Gonzo must meet today in order to keep his job, bye-bye Abu.

POSTSCRIPT: In other Grand Old Party Corruption news, I forgot to note that Representative John Doolittle, long tied to the Abramoff scandal, had his home raided by the FBI last week:

The FBI searched the Oakton, Va., home of Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) Friday in its ongoing investigation into the congressman and his wife’s ties to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Doolittle was not at home at the time of the search and congressional records were not seized.

The search occurred the same day Doolittle’s former chief of staff, Kevin Ring, abruptly resigned from the lobbying firm, Barnes and Thornburg.

Ring left Doolittle’s office to work for Abramoff at the law firm Greenberg Traurig and may have played a role in Abramoff’s decision to hire the consulting firm of Doolittle’s wife, Julie. After the Abramoff scandal broke, Ring went to work for Barnes and Thornburg.

Ring has not been cooperating with investigators, a law enforcement source said, adding that developments could come in his case soon.

Given what happened to Carol Lam, the prosecutor who went after GOP Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham on corruption charges last year, I wonder if the U.S. attorney helping to run the Doolittle investigation will get fired for not pursuing enough illegal immigration cases?

UPDATE: Doolittle temporarily stepped down from the Appropriations Committee today after the revelations that his home was raided by the FBI.

Is an indictment pending?

Comments:
(On this morning's Senate hearings)
Gonzales is dead. He may still be walking around and breathing air, but he's dead, nonetheless. One indicator of that is that Sen. Cornyn (R-TX, and one of the most slavish of WH lap dogs) called his performance "deplorable". The only question yet to be answered is whether he will roll over on Rove and Bush, or commit sepuku like a good Bushie (by far, the most likely scenario).

He's not helping his case at all. First, one has to wonder whether he was actually conscious during all this time, with all his answers on sensitive subjects beginning "I don't recall". Secondly, his voice is completely lacking in "command". He sounds like a mid-western Woody Allen, without the accent, talent and intelligence of course. He alternates between deer-in-the-headlights and whipped puppy. His defense, believe it or not, is "I did not do my job."

He had better hope he has salted away enough to live for a long, long time without a job, and if he had not sold the American people down river for the benefit of his benefactor, one could almost feel sorry for him. I would just like to be a fly on the wall the day he realizes the Administration has completely abandoned him, and has no more loyalty toward him than they do for anything else they scraped off their shoes.
 
Yeah, if Cornyn turned on him, he's done. Schumer said he answered "I can't recall" nearly a 100 times and Tom Coburn said he should resign right to his face.

Maybe Gonzo should've brought his wife to the hearing so she could cry during the hearing and distract from the real issues at hand?

As for your last point, I fear that Gonzo, like most disgraced repubs, will be taken care of with some "wingnut welfare" - I'm sure he'll get a job at some conservative think-tank or Pat Robertson's university where he'll teach law!
 
Rod Paige, who engineered the phony "Texas Miracle," and hired reporters to hype government programs, has a new book out.

It damns special interests, like teachers, but praises UFT President Randi Weingarten as reasonable.
 
Randi and Rod forever - why am I not surprised?
 
Schumer really did you guys proud. He was the voice of authority and reasoned questioning throughout. However, I'd sooner get in a cage of angry wildcats than have Dianne Feinstein question me. She's a bulldog, highly intelligent, and has little patience with smoke and mirrors responses.
 
I didn't see Feinstein, but what I saw of Schumer was very good. Leahy too. Even the Repubs like Specter and Coburn were very tough on Gonzo.

But as you noted earlier, kicksiron when even Cornyn didn't defend the A.G. and 8 out of the 9 Repubs on the committee hammered him, he's in trouble.

Or at least he should be. But since it's "the decider" making the decision, on him, he'll probably get a Medal of Freedom.
 
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