Anyone care to give us cuberats a brief rundown on the Gonzo hearing?

[Stephanie]

It's too hard to scan all 12 threads on a short break - can anybody summarize and give us the highlights? Much appreciated! :hi:

[Sir Jeffrey]

1. Wow...there was so much going on there...

1. AG answered "I don't recall" or some variation 55 times to specific questions.

2. He admitted to discussing one of the purged attorneys with Rove (I can't remember if it was Iglesias or Lam)

3. He got into a heated exchange with Durbin. Durbin nailed him. Basically, AG told Durbin to watch what he said about criticizing the US attorneys and Durbin said he was criticizing the dept and the way it was ran.

4. It appeared to me that the only sympathetic interrogators thus far were Cornyn and another Republican (can't remember b/c I had to take out the trash). Lindsey Graham was weak but still critical. Everyone else was a varying degree of hard ass to AG.

5. Schumer, Spector, Leahy, Feinstein and Durbin all had excellent questions and would be worth watching when you have time.

6. Spector had something wrong with his left eye that made him look like the Terminator.

7. There have been a few protests that interrupted the proceedings. When lunch started people were screaming and all that.

8. AG is apparently going for the "I don't recall" defense, but when challenged with Sampson's testimony or something like that, he retracts his "I don't recall" and moves to "I was not involved". Pathetic, and nobody is buying it.

And to think he had a month to prepare for this. It looks like he was playing Xbox instead.

on edit: I believe Hatch was on when I took the trash out. He was as tool-ish as Cornyn.

[babylonsister]

2. Here's an article that's pretty concise:

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/10560.htm...

Gonzales’ big day
Posted 12:43 pm | Printer Friendly | Spotlight

About a half-hour ago, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), referring to a November 2006 meeting of top Justice Department officials, asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about the decision to purge the now-fired U.S. Attorneys. Gonzales said, “I don’t recall that the decision was made at that meeting.”

Leahy, looking incredulous, asked if Gonzales remembered deciding to fire the prosecutors. The AG, annoyed, said, “I remember making the decision.” When, Leahy asked. “I don’t recall,” Gonzales said. After a glare that lasted several seconds, Leahy told Gonzales, “We’ll get back to this. Count on it.”

It’s been that kind of morning for the Attorney General.

For all the talk about today’s hearing being a make-or-break moment for Gonzales, the morning session hasn’t been kind to the embattled, scandal-plagued AG. Even Ranking Member Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) seems to be running low on patience.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) said today that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ opening testimony continued “a pattern of not being candid.” Specter proceeded to ask the Attorney General to resolve his contradictory statements, noting that he should be able to answer them since he has spent weeks preparing.

Gonzales interjected, “I prepare for every hearing, Senator.” A livid Specter responded, “Do you prepare for all your press conferences? Were you prepared for the press conference where you said there weren’t any discussions involving you?”

Gonzales, put on the defensive, conceded, “Senator, I already said I misspoke. It was my mistake.” When Specter pressed about the specific question of whether he prepares for press conferences, Gonzales said “we do take time to try to prepare for the press conference.”

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