Senate to Gonzales: "We don't believe you"

[ck4829]

His job in jeopardy, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales insisted Thursday he played only a small role in the dismissal of eight federal prosecutors. Skeptical senators reacted with disbelief.

"We have to evaluate whether you are really being forthright," Sen. Arlen Specter bluntly informed the nation's chief law enforcement officer.

The Pennsylvania Republican said Gonzales' description was "significantly if not totally at variance with the facts."

...

"Since you apparently knew very little about the performance about the replaced United States attorneys, how can you testify that the judgment ought to stand?" asked Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked Gonzales whether he had reviewed the evaluation records of the dismissed prosecutors, who Justice Department officials initially said had been fired for inadequate performance. He said he had not.

...

"Today the Department of Justice is experiencing a crisis of leadership perhaps unrivaled during its 137-year history," said (Pat Leahy D-Vermont). "There's a growing scandal swirling around the dismissal" of prosecutors, he added.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070419/ap_on_go_co/gonzales_prosecutors

[louis-t]

1. Vote it up, folks.

[Liberalynn]

2. Was it just me

or did Hatch just sound like he was reading a love note to Gonzo and not really asking anything?

Man Hatch makes me want to loose everything I have ever consumed in a month of Sundays. I disliked like him during the whole Annita Hill incident and even more so now.

[NightWatcher]

3. Gonzo has already backtracked a couple of times

I'm listening to the replay of the questioning. His first words were "it's my fault,I handled it incorrectly"......later "I did nothing wrong, nor was anything wrong done".

He also said that it was his decision, then he said that he met with bush and rove and they expressed comment.

Which is it? When does Bush put him on a small plane and fly him into a mountain? He is becoming a weight of incompetence around the neck of this corrupt and sorry administration.

[Zandor]

4. "significantly if not totally at variance with the facts."

Um, could you just say he lying?