Former Justice Official Blasts Gonzales [View All]

[struggle4progress]

Source: Austin American-Statesman

By Rebecca Carr | Saturday, June 9, 2007, 02:39 PM

As Senate Democrats press Republicans to support a no-confidence resolution against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tomorrow, a former senior Justice Department official says the attorney general ran the department like “a political arm of the White House.”

Daniel J. Metcalfe, the former director of the Justice Department’s Office of Information and Privacy, said he resigned in January because he could no longer tolerate the “sheer political expediency, avoidance of individual responsibility, defensive personal aggrandizement, irresponsible ‘consensus’ decisionmaking (and) disregard for longstanding practices and principles.” ~snip~

Metcalfe, who worked for the department during the the Nixon administration’s infamous “Saturday night massacre,” said the dismissals had been handled like nothing he has ever seen before.

“I think the way in which the firings themselves were handled was abominable, the way in which the ensuing controversy was handled was abysmal, and the way in which Gonzales has handled himself is absolutely appalling,” Metcalfe said. “As a long-term Justice Department official, I am embarrassed and increasingly incensed that he is still in there.” ~snip~

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/washington/entries/2007/06/09/former_justice.html