Mar 19 2007
McNulty Out, Gonzales To Stay
Update: President Bush, one of the few Reps out there with a spine, did as I suspected and is backing Gonzales. And the liberal media and Dems are going to remain distracted (and therefore off balance) on this lame AG shake up – opening opportunities for Reps to show some leadership on serious issues – not inside DC baseball silliness. – end update
Deputy AG McNulty, the man behind all the leaks to the media in the DoJ, will be out at Justice for his attempted coup detat. Almost all reporting tonight agrees on that much. My bold prediction: Gonzales will weather the storm, Schumer/Leahy will be reminded of the separation of powers, and Bush will pull one out because there is no way he will let the power of the Presidency be eroded by raw partisan greed. I know, most will not believe me, but Bush’s last two years will predicated on holding the line now on Gonzales and purging the DoJ of the backstabbing McNulty who tried to pull a Plame in Justice.
Addendum: Let me further explain why I am making this prediction. I am pretty sure the Dem used people like McNulty to monitor the NSA Leak investigations, which probably lead to a Dem Senator and his staff (or two). This kind of investigation has to be done thoroughly and in secret because it represents a very sticky constitutional conflict. As I said, if Gonzales leaves the Dems will claim any news of the results of the investigation were politically motivated vengeance for Gonzales’ departure. But if Gonzales stays, then the administration can say ‘it seems we understand NOW why the Dems wanted Gonzales gone’ once the news breaks.
If these investigations are about to become public, then Gonzales must stay to make sure the Dems and the media cannot cover up the crimes with claims of partisan dirty tricks. That is why Gonzales will stay, in my humble opinion.
Boy, I hope you are right. If he gives up on Gonzales I will be very disappointed. I can understand Rummy, it was the only way to win this war, Rummy was too big of a target. But not Gonzales.
This is starting to make a lot more sense now. I still think Gonzales might be gone anyway, I kinda have a feeling that Bush has been disappointed in his performance and might make this an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. In fact, it might be a chance to do some wholesale housecleaning at DoJ if the rats in the woodwork have now exposed themselves.
Gonzales will be gone. Bush will not fight for him. See if I’m wrong!
biker, i hope you’re wrong, but think you’re not. I hope he holds on to gonzales.
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I, too, am hoping Bush sticks with Gonzales. Maybe it’s pie-in-the-sky at this point, but I’m still hoping for a “summer of fun”, whether it be Summer ’06 or Summer ’07, and that simply wouldn’t be possible with a Bush adversary running the AG’s office.
Bush will not fight for him???Puhleaze…. It seems to me that a lot of socalled movement conservatives are yammering for Bush to get rid of Gonzales, they don’t like him anyway. They sure as hell will not fight for him, or Bush for that matter. At the first oppurtunity they consistently jump overboard.
This is the thing about Republicans that just drives me crazy. They will complain if Bush gets rid of Gozales or if he keeps him. Either way they will jump right in there and help the Democrats damage their own president.
What movement conservatives who want to get rid of Gonzales need to remember is that Bush has to get a replacement confirmed by a Democrat controlled Senate.
If Bush lets Gonzales go it will be because he feels AG is more trouble than he is worth, and thanks to conservatives that might be true.
Gonzales won’t last out the month – let alone the end of the term. Yesterday, the Justice Department released 2,000+ e-mails regarding the US attorney replacements – that’s 250 pages of e-mails for each US attorney replaced – but “there weren’t any replcements made for political purposes.” Yeah – right – and Karl Rove’s job in the West Wing is to provide pastoral ministry.
They’ve already caught the guy lying to Congress under oath. By the time they’re finished with Gonzales he’ll be the most proscuted Attorney General since John Mitchell.
If Gonzales is out and is replaced by someone more willing to get rid of the turncoats at Justice and actually has the guts to go after the leakers of national security I won’t be that upset.
You know…if Bush does get rid of Gonzales he could put a hard-nosed conservative in there and clean house. I like that idea myself because we need to get rid of the Clinton hacks and turncoats in DOJ.
Or the Republicans could start saying that the Dems only want to get rid of Gonzales because he is Hispanic. The liberals would use this tactic in a heartbeat and Southie would be posting it everwhere,
Question: Could Bush do a recess appointment since he only has to get through this Congressional session anyway?
If Gonzales is out and is replaced by someone more willing to get rid of the turncoats at Justice and actually has the guts to go after the leakers of national security I won’t be that upset.
I second that, Mark.
Since investigations into illegal acts by US Senators are going to be thorough and completely secret – what proof do you have the leaks have not been pursued? And as I said – if Gonzales goes the Dems will cry partisan vengeance and the media will bury the story. If you want to get to the leaks in a meaningful way Gonzales must survive this. Don’t get ‘convenient’ on this – you play into the Dems hands
Did you guys hibernate early last Fall and miss the November election results entirely??
How is Bush going to put a “hard-nosed conservative” in the Office of Attorney General when Leahy chairs the Judiciary Committee and the Dems hold the majority. A “hard-nose” will never make it out of Committee. Whoever is put up as a sacrificial lamb is going to get grilled like a cheap steak on the ultimate Weber.
Mix the marinade and fire up the charcoal!
Given the partisan nature of the FBI’s investigation into the Plame Affair, do you really have any confidence that the FBI would actually find any wrongdoing by the Dems in Congress or any of their enablers in the DoJ?
If these investigations are about to become public, then Gonzales must stay to make sure the Dems and the media cannot cover up the crimes with claims of partisan dirty tricks.
AJ, this administration has disappointed me on so many occasions, I guess I’ll believe it when I see it. I’m not holding my breath.
Once again, Washington politicians waste their time and ours on something that’s entirely trivial. People get fired all the time. The Attorney General and the President have the right to fire them. Six U.S. Attorneys losing their jobs is no big deal.
This so-called scandal is the sort of thing that Washington politicos use to advance their own political power. Precisely what the Democrats are doing here. Stop taking this crap seriously.
I am saving this quote to my harddrive…to remeber forever what the democrats agenda for the country was during the first decade of the ’00’s:
“By the time they’re finished with Gonzales he’ll be the most proscuted Attorney General since John Mitchell. ”
The criminalization of politics.
Full Liberal Pathology on display.
I wonder how the hispanics are going to take to that line….
Then why did it take 2,000 e-mails within Justice to accomplish it? 2,000 e-mails paid for by the taxpayers seems like a big deal to me. Further, it is not as innocent as you portray:
The Bush Administration’s firing of eight U.S. attorneys may have broken numerous laws:
1. While it’s true that United States attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president if the attorneys were fired to interfere with a valid prosecution, or to punish them for not misusing their offices, that may well have been illegal.
2. It is illegal to lie to Congress and to impede its getting information. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as well as Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty and Gonzales’ chief of staff Kyle Sampson are all under scrutiny for conflicting statements made under oath to Congress.
3. Contacting prosecutors to influence or impede investigations is a punishable crime. Both Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) have been found to have contacted one of the fired U.S. attorneys, David Iglesias, in order to inquire about ongoing investigations, at the least an ethical transgression.
4. The intimidation of Congressional witnesses violates the law. One of the fired U.S. attorneys, H.E. Cummins, states that he was contacted and threatened with retaliation by McNulty’s chief of staff.
5. The firings themselves may be punishable. United States attorneys can be fired whenever a president wants, but not, as § 1512 (c) puts it, to corruptly obstruct, influence, or impede an official proceeding. Anyone involved in firing a United States attorney to obstruct or influence an official proceeding could have broken the law.
Well, Lincoln “depended” on the screw-up, McClellan. So, Bush “depends” on Gonzales. Still a very lackluster performer. Who had an underling who achieved headlines; while this boob sat in his office “being nice.”
There’s also the reality that Ted Olsen wouldn’t touch Gonzales’ job with a ten foot pole. So that’s another example of letting someone who is crap on the job; keep it, anyway.
While, yes. the real erosion for Bush has always been the leakers.
And, for his lack of courage, when it came to Libby. I guess he “deferred” to the idiot, Gonzales?
Whatever the next two years hold, the donks are in the worst shape, possible, politically.
Just like the news media is terrifying Maliki so that he’s now a “changed man.” And, he’s now fighting WITH General Patreaus, instead of against our troops. This didn’t happen in a vacuum.
Bush, also seems to need headlines that make his eyeballs hurt, to do anything at all. He’s not a quick study. He’s as mediocre as his dad. And, he’s surrounded now with pure evil. James Baker has a seat at his table, and you think this is a bonus?
I think after six years most Americans are now used to the Bush’s. And, they’re probably a lot happier that it’s the Bush’s, and not algore.
But those are compensation prizes.
The good is still to come!
You wanna put that “Gonzales is corrupt” in writing?
And I would not want to go there myself.
And Chuckie Schumer, have you recused yourself yet?
Here you go:
Alberto Gonzales is a corrupt hack who has perjured himself under oath before Congress.