Specter: Administration Should Not Be ‘Celebrating’ Gonzales’s ‘Very, Very Damaging’ Testimony
Specter: Administration Should Not Be ‘Celebrating’ Gonzales’s ‘Very, Very Damaging’ Testimony
During Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) called on Gonzales to resign. In the Washington Post, the Attorney General’s aides spun Coburn’s remarks as a “positive barometer” because he was the only Republican who called for his resignation during the hearing.
Today on Fox News Sunday, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) criticized those aides, stating, “I don’t think they should be celebrating that, because the attorney general’s testimony was very, very damaging to his own credibility.”
Specter said that while he hasn’t called on Gonzales to resign, he believes Gonzales staying on is “bad for the Department of Justice.” “There has been a very substantial decrease in morale. There’s no doubt about that. The other 93 U.S. attorneys don’t know who is up next.” Watch it:
At least half a dozen Republican lawmakers have now called for Gonzales’s resignation. Several others have made it clear they have lost confidence in the Attorney General, but stopped just short of calling for his resignation. Conservative pundits such as Newt Gingrich and the editorial board of the National Review want Gonzales to go. Additionally a plurality of Americans believe Gonzales should now resign or be fired.
Apparently Gonzales’ aides see all this as a “positive barometer” for the administration.
Transcript:
WALLACE: Senator Specter, it’s been reported that after that testimony that you sent President Bush a letter giving your advice on how he should handle Attorney General Gonzales.
Gonzales aides say the fact that only one Republican senator, Senator Coburn, called for his dismissal, and specifically that you did not, is what they call a, quote, positive barometer.
Should they, in fact, be celebrating that fact?
SPECTER: I don’t think they should be celebrating that, because the attorney general’s testimony was very, very damaging to his own credibility.
It has been damaging to the administration, because without answers as to what really happened, there is a lot of speculation. And the charges are being made that the Department of Justice was the political arm of the White House.
Now there is no proof of that, but there is no proof of anything else either.
+++
WALLACE: That’s what I want to pick up on with you, Senator Specter. You said after his testimony that his credibility — that he suffered a loss of credibility and that his ability to manage the Justice Department has been severely undercut.
Now, I know you don’t — are not going to call for him to resign because you say that’s a matter for him and the president to decide, and any advice you’re going to give is going to be in private.
But as the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee –I don’t have to tell you, a co-equal branch of the government — in your judgment, is it good or bad for the Justice Department for him to stay on?
SPECTER: Well, I think, no doubt, it is bad for the Department of Justice. It is harmful. There has been a very substantial decrease in morale. There’s no doubt about that.
The other 93 U.S. attorneys don’t know who is up next. There is a suspicion of improper motivation — no proof, but suspicion, and it’s kindled every day.
But I believe in the final analysis, there are two people involved in the decision, and that is the attorney general to make it himself, and, if he decides to stay on, for the president.
I do not think that it is appropriate for me to call for his resignation. I don’t challenge anybody else who wants to do it. But my own mindset is to leave it up to the attorney general and the president.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
The assessment of Gonzo’s testimony only continues the cheney/rove/bush inability to accurately assess reality.
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:39 amGonzales isn’t going to resign and he shouldn’t unless the president asks him to.
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:39 amIt must drive TP crazy that they haven’t gotten Gonzales to resign. It’s been their sole focus for months. He’s not going anywhere, but keep talking about it anyway. I’d rather hear that than here you undermine the soldiers in Iraq.
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:45 amComment by mandolin — April 22, 2007 @ 11:45 am
I say the longer he refuses to resign the better. Let’s keep the scandals in the press for as long as possible. Maybe some of the 28% will start to see what they are really supporting.
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:47 amNico must have been so excited a month or so ago when all of those press reports came out saying that Gonzales was fixing to resign. He’s still here and TP is still stupid for wasting their time trying to get him to leave.
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:49 amMaybe some of the 28% will start to see what they are really supporting.
Comment by erock
And half of them are big, fat, lazy old farts who will be dead in less than a decade anyway, thankfully.
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:49 am#3 Comment by mandolin — April 22, 2007 @ 11:45 am
This sort of thinking is precisely why the Republican party is hurtling towards oblivion.
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:50 amDoes anyone remember just a few months ago, during the Foley scandal, all of the banter about how “Republicans RESIGN when scandal happens, Democrats cling to power and refuse to do the right thing for the country…”
Hannity, et al pounded this meme for a solid month…
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:51 amAfter having endured the incompetence, ineptitued, and disconnectedness of the bushie administration, our soldiers and country have been seriously undermined, and keeping a loyal incompetent, inept, and disonnected bushie as AG, continues the disaster that is the bushie administration.
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:53 amThe longer Gonzo stays, and the more loudly Bush supports him, the better for the Democrats. Savaging the justice department for the GOP’s own ends isn’t going over well with the US public. Wait till they hear how Bush ordered Lam fired to protect Domenici.
If boy-in-a-bubble Bush had the courage to venture outside in uncontrolled environments, he’d quickly find out how most of his citizens regard him with contempt.
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:54 amI think Bush will realize soon that he is supporting a guy that has lost the necessary backing by the Senate.
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:59 amThe support he has left is thin…and getting thinner everyday.
poor arlen, can’t bring himself to saying it was a crime, that he is a willing part of a crime family, that the AG has done numerous criminal acts, only alluded to those acts, can’t ask him to resign, can’t ask the presnit to fire him
nope. nothing is too criminal for arlene to ignore publicly, openly. instead of pretending to be a former prosecutor or a citizen of this country that wants law and order, he continues to do his best to subvert it.
what do they have on the specter? there must be some real dirt hanging around his neck to get him to continue to be a part of their ongoing criminal conspiracy to control by intimidation and coercion
our gubment in action. real time corruption, 24/7
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:59 amCongratulations, mandolin!
You are this months winner of the “______________ is bad for Democrats” contest.
Yes, the continuing scandal surrounding the Bush/Gonzales Justice Department is Bad For Democrats.
April 22nd, 2007 at 12:01 pmHey mandolin, you willing to put your money where you mouth is an make a wager that Gonzo will be gone before the year is?
April 22nd, 2007 at 12:02 pmWith the exploding scandals at the Justice Department and the World Bank enveloping his administration, President Bush voiced “full confidence” in Alberto Gonzales and Paul Wolfowitz this week. But as history has shown, there is no more certain confirmation of the criminality, ethical-wrong doing or imminent departure of a Bush team player than the President’s expression of “confidence” in him.
For the details, see:
April 22nd, 2007 at 12:03 pm“President Bush, Confidence Man.”
This sort of thinking is precisely why the Republican party is hurtling towards oblivion.
Comment by VerbalKint — April 22, 2007 @ 11:50 am
Evolve or become extinct…
April 22nd, 2007 at 12:14 pmi think it was leahy that i heard this morning on fave the nation, saying that it may not be the best thing that gonzo resign, because we could get stuck with someone even worse…
TP should dig that on up also…
April 22nd, 2007 at 12:15 pmi was surprised at first, but it also made sense…
So what happened to all the neocons who were shouting, when Jefferson was caught with $ in his freezer, that the Republican Party was more ethical because they got rid of their “bad guys” and cleaned house when necessary?
April 22nd, 2007 at 12:17 pmyea, and what is ’sell-the-country-down-the-drain-in-a-skinny-minute-Specter’ going to do about yet another opportunity to stand up for what’s right for the country and the American people by pushing for Gonzales’ resignation…why the same thing he did as Chairman of the Judiciary committee when he had the opportunity to stop the Torture Act including elimination of due process and Habaes Corpus, or investigate illegal spying on Americans, or any of the other opportunities he’s had – NOTHING that’s what. Specter is all hat and no cattle.
What a slimmy, mealy, spineless, hypocitical, duplicitous piece of crap Specter is.
April 22nd, 2007 at 12:58 pm.
It must drive TP crazy that they haven’t gotten Gonzales to resign. It’s been their sole focus for months. He’s not going anywhere, but keep talking about it anyway. I’d rather hear that than here you undermine the soldiers in Iraq.
Comment by mandolin
Like you, I hope Abu Gonzales never resigns.
Every news story about his “performance” at the hearing turns another Republican toward the light.
Thank you mandolin, for supporting The Liberal Agenda.
April 22nd, 2007 at 1:27 pmspec·ter /ˈspÉ›ktÉ™r/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[spek-ter] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation
April 22nd, 2007 at 1:27 pm–noun
1. a visible incorporeal spirit, esp. one of a terrifying nature; ghost; phantom; apparition.
2. some object or source of terror or dread: the specter of disease or famine.
Sen. Specter has been sitting on the fence so long, he no longer knows which yard is his. He does remember to make Democratic, responsible government noises in public, and cooes Republican when the lights are out and the lobbyists come crawling.
Sen. Specter is a major reason we have Alito, the revised Patriot Act, and the Military Commissions Act. He deserves another term in the Senate as much as George deserves a handout from the soup kitchens he’s closed. Time to be politically rid of them both.
April 22nd, 2007 at 2:04 pmFrom CNN:
“Several administration officials and the House Republican Conference chairman said Friday that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should step down, following the harsh response to his Senate testimony on last year’s firing of eight U.S. attorneys.”
“During the hearings Thursday, while Democratic senators criticized Gonzales’ leadership, some of the sharpest criticism came from Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, including one who called for his resignation.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, said Gonzales should resign.
“The communication was atrocious. It was inconsistent — it’s generous to say that there were misstatements; it’s a generous statement. And I believe you ought to suffer the consequences that these others have suffered,” Coburn said, adding, “I believe the best way to put this behind us is your resignation.”
“On Friday, another Republican, Sen Jeff Sessions of Alabama, told CNN that Gonzales should consider leaving office.”
So where has the partisan politics, “show trial” argument gone?
April 22nd, 2007 at 2:32 pmThe GOP: Waiting for Him to Walk
Khue Bui for Newsweek
The President’s Old Friend: The A.G.’s poor performance at the hearings cost him support on the Hill
April 30, 2007 issue – The pressure on Alberto Gonzales to resign intensified last week following his daylong grilling before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The embattled attorney general was repeatedly unable to recall virtually anything about last year’s firings of eight U.S. attorneys. GOP senators—hoping for a strong performance—were visibly pained when Gonzales couldn’t remember a crucial Nov. 27, 2006, meeting (noted on his calendar), when he was briefed by his chief of staff about the firing plan. “Senator, I have searched my memory. I have no recollection of the meeting,” Gonzales told GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions. The A.G. was even unable to recall a meeting where President Bush passed along complaints about the three U.S. attorneys—a talk that Bush himself has publicly recalled. (Gonzales said he now “understands” he had such a conversation.)
With that performance, Gonzales lost the Hill. When he spoke with the attorney general on Friday, Sessions urged Gonzales to “take the weekend” to determine whether he can still “be an effective leader,” he said later in a statement. Rep. Adam Putnam, chairman of the House Republican Conference, called on Gonzales to step down—echoing a position that a group of top House GOPers privately delivered to Bush earlier in the month. “He’s done something I didn’t think possible. He’s lost the confidence of almost all the Republicans in Congress,” said one top GOP strategist who is close to the White House, anonymous when talking about sensitive personnel matters. A big GOP concern: Gonzales’s continued presence will make it hard to move measures important to the party’s base, like immigration reform, through the judiciary committees, said the strategist. [snip]
If he steps down, it will probably mean the end of his legal career.
He’s either shown himself to be the most incompetent AG (or even most incompetent administration cabinet member) since Ed Meese, or the most politically-corrupt AG since … Ed Meese, yet again.
And at this point, probably the only firm that would hire him is — guess who?
“Mr. Meese; Alberto Gonzales, on line two …”
April 22nd, 2007 at 2:35 pmLike you, I hope Abu Gonzales never resigns.
Comment by Zooey
Tactically speaking, if Abu is gone, the Justice Department will start shaking out those think-tank fleas which has infested it since Bush began his jihad on democracy, and that leaves Rove wide open. If the Justice personnel see that there is a price to be paid for “going with the flow” politically, there goes Rove’s firewall.
April 22nd, 2007 at 2:42 pmThe DEMS that want him to go are being partisan
The REPUBLICANS that want him to go are racists
The DEMS that want him to stay are idiots
The REPUBLICANS that want him to stay are fascist incompetants
The rest are good Americans
April 22nd, 2007 at 2:42 pmIf the Justice personnel see that there is a price to be paid for “going with the flow†politically, there goes Rove’s firewall.
Comment by Barfly
Ok, I was exaggerating for mandolin’s sake. :)
I know it’s ridiculous for Abu G to keeping hanging in there, and I really can’t see him lasting much more than a week.
April 22nd, 2007 at 2:48 pmComment by Zooey — April 22, 2007 @ 2:48 pm
Zooey, I honestly hope Gonzales stays where he is. If he resigns, then who will be his replacement? It could be worse. If he stays where he is, then he will be a millstone around their neck right up until the end.
April 22nd, 2007 at 2:55 pmWallace: But as the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee –I don’t have to tell you, a co-equal branch of the government — in your judgment, is it good or bad for the Justice Department for him to stay on?
Not just in Specter’s “judgement.” In the judgement of the U.S. Constitution. Mike Wallace must be freaked out everytime he hears this kind of crap from his son.
April 22nd, 2007 at 3:10 pmGonzo; for whom the bells toll? Why, they toll for thee!
April 22nd, 2007 at 3:17 pmChris, how worse can a replacement get? It was Gonzo who said that the Geneva conventions about prisoners was “quaint”. Gonzo also maintains that as “war president”, Bush can rip up the Constitution and the Bill of Rights at will. Just how much “worse” could that be?
April 22nd, 2007 at 3:21 pm“He’s done something I didn’t think possible. He’s lost the confidence of almost all the Republicans in Congress,â€
Pray this happens to Bush. Then impeachment is not only “back on the table,” it’s a “slam dunk.”
April 22nd, 2007 at 3:23 pmComment by Uncle Ho — April 22, 2007 @ 3:21 pm
One thing I have learned from republicans, just when you think things can’t get any worse … they’re just getting started.
There are still several extreme right-wing political maneuvers thay have yet to push forth in the next year, and a new AG yes-man would be just what the doctor ordered.
April 22nd, 2007 at 3:29 pmMr. Specter often wants to do the right thing (my opinion), but party loyalty keeps him from making that small step from tough talk to even tougher action. The man is afraid of losing his senior position on various committees if he actually votes against the administration.
April 22nd, 2007 at 3:36 pmI keep hoping that he will act honorably and add his name to the many senators demanding Gonzales’ resignation.
Why are we not seeing more Democrats on these talk shows? Oh, I forgot, it is faux and also, we still have a neocon fascist republican corporate controlled media in spite of the fact the Dems have control of congress.
April 22nd, 2007 at 3:38 pmComment by had enough — April 22, 2007 @ 3:38 pm
I wonder if that will change after ‘08?
April 22nd, 2007 at 3:42 pmI wonder if that will change after ‘08?
Comment by chris L
It is ridiculous.. we are STILL seeing republican domination on the cable news talk shows. It is like ‘84 and watching the teleprompt. How can this continue after ‘08… or maybe it can if the American public are dumbed down enlugh.
April 22nd, 2007 at 4:05 pmAbu Gonzo needs to go!!!
Don’t WORRY about his REPLACEMENT.
THIS time, whoever the AWOL TraitorBoy submits will HAVE to represent the Unites States of America, and not just act as Bush’s personal lawyer.
AND they will be under OVERSIGHT from REAL Americans, not Bush’s Nazis.
See you in hell Abu Gonzo (cause I’LL be THERE),
April 22nd, 2007 at 4:43 pmMr. Bush
MURDEROUS WAR CRIMINAL
COXUCKER PUNK TRAITOR TO THE USA (TM)
That is quite a statement,. Spector is going to leave it all up to the liar Bush, and the liar Gonzales. Is that not funny? Where has he been for the past six years? Does he recognize corruption when he sees it but prefers to leave the big decisions up to the corrupted?
April 22nd, 2007 at 5:33 pmBe careful here. In my opinion, what the Great Gonzo has done to the Constitution should get him disbarred. Thats even before we consider the effects of politicizing the AGs office (can we trust the AG now ? Or do they protect the criminals that do their bidding and use enforcement against the innocent to bring others into submission ?)
But pragmatically, if Gonzo resigns, many will try to stamp that as “case closed” and a way to stifle any further investigation. Better for Shrub to keep supporting Gonzo so that we can find out about those missing emails.
April 22nd, 2007 at 6:16 pmThere IS no plan. It is all ad-hoc now (especially since “the plan”) and designed to stall as long as possible until critical parties can get out of harm’s way. Fielding will have a flawed plan for his charges, but he does have experience and he will find a way to stonewall if he can.
Fredo had weeks to prepare, yet for all that, his handlers could not train him to hide his essential stupidity and his inflated sense of entitlement. Is that a Texas thing? Stupid and yet so sure they are smarter than the average doorknob?!
Whatever, cynicism is beginning to creep in, WE (MSM will not help the average citizen) have to revolutionize our approach to political participation. It IS up to us, and we deserve everything we get if we sit by like we usually do.
April 22nd, 2007 at 7:18 pmAlways amazing. Arlen Specter will always be properly outraged at injustice. Will he ever take action? Never in this lifetime! You have to hand it to him, though. He is consistent.
April 22nd, 2007 at 7:25 pmArlen, yes it is time to turn the screw the other way. Stay “your present” twist.
April 22nd, 2007 at 7:44 pmI don’t want him to resign…I want them to continue to drag his lying ass before the committee to allow him to continue to lie and cover up for KKKarl Rove and company until we get that weasel sob in jail where he belongs. The longer this incompetent bastard stays in office, to more obvious how incompetent, crooked, and corrupt this administration is and the greater the chance the GOP will not be in the majority for the rest of my life. That is a good thing.
April 22nd, 2007 at 10:26 pmGonzales needs to go. The entire Whit House needs to go.
April 22nd, 2007 at 10:53 pmArlene Spectator! just added a new profile to the three monkeys that we are all accustomed too.
1. see no evil
2. speak no evil
3. hear no evil
4. don’t think no evil.
Is this individual capable of independent thought?
That would be the 64.000 dollar question if the question were asked of a contestant back on the original show that produced that concept,
The answer would be of course I don’t know, does he know?
Odiously he hasn’t produced anything remotely approaching the requisite check and balance’s demanded of his position, why should we start expecting it now? ain’t going to happen with this sock monkey.
Besides the democrats coouldnt find a better foil for their 2008 campaigns than this corrupt son of a Be!tch,and his cohorts of mindless sock monkeys, keep em I say, makes it easier for us to use the Claim of incompetence with real meaning, and keeping Gonzo only reinforces that notion with vigor.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:33 pmchristy hardin smith at firedoglake
pointed out, astutely, this morning
that alberto gonzales admitted to
“serious improprieties” in his testi-
mony on april 19, in answer to a line
of questioning late in the day by sen.
sheldon whitehouse. . . so — i went
out and baked up the highlights!
okay — here is a condensed, edited,
pan-and-scan (w/graphic-cutaways)
youtube’d video/flashplayer
snippet — about 3:10 running
time, total, of sen. sheldon
whitehouse eviscerating the
attorney general over the
astonishingly inappropriate
access low-level white house
staffers (some 447 of ‘em!)
have to criminal cases and
investigations via the alberto
gonzales/george bush formulation
of DoJ — white house access policies.
whew! — take a look! — i’ve been bakin’
April 23rd, 2007 at 6:05 pmda’ pixels all afternoon long, on this. . .
dag! here is theat link to the
April 23rd, 2007 at 6:06 pmsheldon whitehouse queestioning. . .
Can someone get the tape and read the lips of those guys sitting behind Fredo during the hearing? They must have come up with this while watching the unraveling of their boss by the looks of their faces. Who were those guys anyway?
I’d like to know what they were saying, any lip readers interested in a fun project they’d like to share with us when they’re done?
I could use a good laugh amid all this criminality, laughable incompetence is kinda funny.
April 23rd, 2007 at 11:43 pmHere’s a related video from GovGap -
GOVGAP slams DOJ in humiliating video:
http://www.govgap.com
It’s on the home page right now.
April 24th, 2007 at 4:39 pmEthan