More On the US Attorney Dismissals

Now Alberto Gonzales, AKA "Gonzo", is blaming the attorneys themselves in an effort to extricate himself from a mess of his own making;

"So far as I knew, my chief of staff was involved in the process of determining who were the weak performers," said Mr. Gonzales. "Where were the districts around the country where we could do better for the people in that district, and that's what I knew." [story]

But I repeat, for your benefit, a quote from a story that was published yesterday regarding just one of these attorneys, John McKay of Washington State, who only one month before his ouster, was being endorsed for a promotion by Gonzo's chief of staff, Kyle Sampson;

Emails released this week show that then-Gonzales' chief of staff Kyle Sampson touted McKay for a federal judgeship, saying that it is "highly unlikely we could do better in Seattle." But one month later, McKay was listed as one of the seven attorneys in the process of being "pushed out." "What happened between those dates to reverse McKay's political fortunes is a bit of a mystery." [story]

More lies from Gonzo where he strenuously asserts that he knew nothing about this in advance;

Mr. Gonzales then repeated: "I never saw documents. We never had a discussion about where things stood. What I knew was that there was ongoing effort that was led by Mr. Sampson, vetted through the Department of Justice, to ascertain where we could make improvements in U.S. attorney performances around the country."

The latest e-mail shows preparations for the Nov. 27 meeting at 9 a.m. to discuss "U.S. Attorney Appointments." [story]

And shockingly, ten days before the ouster occurred (oh, and remember, Gonzo claimed not to know about this in advance), no one realized the huge reaction that this gross abuse of power would cause -- as if the American people are so stupid and complacent as to allow this to happen;

"I think most of them will resign quietly," said Ms. Scolinos, the department's chief spokeswoman, in a Nov. 17 e-mail message, a few weeks before the dismissals. "It's only six U.S. attorneys (there are 94) and they don't get anything out of making it public they were asked to leave in terms of future job prospects. I don't see it as being a national story -- especially if it phases in over a few months." [story]

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