Gonzales Throws McNulty Under The Bus
Gonzales Throws McNulty Under The Bus
During an event this morning at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Attorney General Alberto Gonzales launched an unabashed and shameless finger-pointing campaign at outgoing Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, blaming him for the U.S. attorney scandal.
Minimizing his own role, Gonzales said McNulty has “most of the operational authority and decisions” at the Department of Justice.
Despite having delegated the task of putting together the list of fired U.S. attorneys to his chief of staff Kyle Sampson, Gonzales claimed that “the one person I would care about would be the views of the Deputy Attorney General. … At end of the day, my understanding was that Mr. Sampson’s recommendations reflected the consensus view of the senior leadership of the Department — in particular the Deputy Attorney General.”
When asked why two inexperienced staffers — Sampson and Monica Goodling — were given prominent roles in the firing process, Gonzales responded, “Well again you have to remember at the end of the day, the recommendations reflected the views of the Deputy Attorney General. He signed off on the names and he would know better than anyone else.”
Watch a video compilation:
McNulty was “largely left out of the loop when Gonzales” in early 2005 ordered his chief of staff to identify top prosecutors for dismissal. McNulty has said he was not aware of the plans until last fall, “two months before the firings were executed.” McNulty told one fired attorney that he’d had only “limited input” in the firing process, but he did attend at least one meeting with Karl Rove to discuss the firings.
McNulty may soon have an opportunity to present a high-profile rebuttal to Gonzales. House Judiciary Committee John Conyers has said, “As we press on with our investigation, we look forward to [McNulty’s] cooperation.”
UPDATE: Andrew Cohen writes that McNulty is not blameless. He “knew or should have known that the White House-inspired plan to politicize the Justice Department was wrong… [and] should have stood up for the independence and authority of the prosecutors who were fired.”
Transcript:
GONZALES: The Deputy Attorney General has a unique position at the DOJ. Most of the operational authority and decisions are made by the Deputy Attorney General. He is the chief operating officer — that’s the way I’ve structured the Department. And so he occupies a very central place in the work of the Department.
[…]
GONZALES: Mr. Sampson provided the recommendations. The one person I would care about would be the views of the Deputy Attorney General because the Deputy Attorney General as a direct supervisor of the United States Attorneys and in this particular case Mr. McNulty was a former colleague of all of these United States Attorneys and so he would probably know better than anyone else about the performance and qualifications of our United States Attorney community. So at the end of the day my understanding was that Mr. Sampson’s recommendations reflected the consensus view of the senior leadership of the Department — in particular the Deputy Attorney General. And the day of Mr. Sampson’s testimony, I had a conversation with the deputy as I testified where I went back to the Deputy Attorney General and I asked Paul did he still stand by the recommendations and he said yes. And so — for me that is the most important — his views would be the most important.
[…]
QUESTION: It seems clear that two relatively inexperienced Justice Department appointees Kyle Sampson and Monica Goodling were intimately involved in these personnel issues. Why were such that young and unexperienced people put in charge of such matters?
GONZALES: Well again you have to remember at the end of the day, the recommendations reflected the views of the Deputy Attorney General. He signed off on the names and he would know better than anyone else, anyone else in this room. Again, the Deputy Attorney General would know best about the qualifications and experiences of the minds it’s a community and he signed off on the names.
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So, what is it exactly that you do all day, Mr. Attorney General?
May 15th, 2007 at 10:36 amGonzo can now add COWARD to his resume.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:36 amFunny, how he now “remembers” that McNulty is to blame, now that McNulty is gone.
We’re not buying it, Al.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:37 am#1 heyzeus
Nice Office Space reference.
I think he talks to Bush’s customers, namely Halliburton and AT&T.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:39 amWhat a horribly incompetent slimy scumbag.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:39 amThis can’t be real. How does this guy sleep at night?!
May 15th, 2007 at 10:39 amBuck Passing Bush Backer. Worst Attorney General Ever.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:40 amAGAG gives scum a good name.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:40 amWTF? Albatross Gonzo names names before the NPC, but not before the Senate Judiciary? OUTRAGEOUS.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:41 amthe HeyZues refrence is from Die Hard 3 not office space.
On topic, too funny this just plays into the Gonzo is incompotent but meant well defense.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:41 amIsn’t that convenient? “Yeah, yeah, the guy that quit was the f-up. I didn’t know anything. Ever.”
And so believable, too, Gonzo. Oy.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:43 amwhat a freaking little scumbag. man, i thought my opinion of that *sshole couldn’t get any worse.
as usual, i have woefully underestimated bushco.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:44 amaccording to TPM Muckraker, “McNulty will remain in place until the administration nominates a successor, he could be there for a long while.” “Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.) and other top Democrats have indicated that they will not confirm any senior Justice nominees until they receive e-mails they have demanded from the White House and are allowed to conduct interviews about the firings.”
did Greg Palast give Leahy those emails from whitehouse.org?
May 15th, 2007 at 10:46 am“the HeyZues refrence is from Die Hard 3 not office space.”
I don’t kno about Die Hard, but it’s DEFINTIELY in Office Space too. During the Bob interviews
May 15th, 2007 at 10:46 amSome rats are abandoning ship, some are being attacked by other rats. It’s a sight to see. The inevitable sleeeeazy end of the Bush II “presidency.”
May 15th, 2007 at 10:47 am#10 Kranzy
Probably also true, but in Office Space during the employee interviews, one of the character’s whose name I forget is asked what he does all day, as he delegates the jobs he’s supposed to do to his secretary. They ask, I believe “So you talk to the customers, then?” “Well no, my secretary does that…” “So what is it that you do, exactly?”
Hence, Office Space
May 15th, 2007 at 10:48 amThis just keeps getting worse and worse for Gonzo.
The noose is tightening around his neck and he is grabbing for air.
I can’t wait until Gonzo gets removed, fired, quits or becomes so discredited that he no longer can do his job.
Gonzales belongs in prison.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:48 amlinda:I feel it’s not that you have underestimated Bushco, but that we are stuck in the proverbial “It can’t get any worse” scenario here..
You know, in the movie, when the guy walking home gets mugged, has his shirt torn,gets punched in the gut,watches the crooks running off, then says”Well, at least it can’t get any worse…”
Then it starts raining…
May 15th, 2007 at 10:50 amFunny, didn’t Gone-zales tacitly mea culpa last month? Sort of a “I didn’t do anything wrong, but I’m the boss so blame me but don’t REALLY blame me to the point of punishing me” kina thang?
Now, suddenly, it’s McNulty’s fault.
Not big on the name calling around these parts but I guess it’s time. Anyone who still aligns him or herself with the GOP with this level of incompetence representing the party is effing stupid.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:51 amCOWARD!!!
May 15th, 2007 at 10:52 amHe is nothing but a punching bag for whoever wants to take a punch, especially for Democrats and score points.
I think, the real question is, why he is keeping himself still in this position? What are the (political) calculations?
Or do AG and GW genuinely feel that they can survive this episode?
May 15th, 2007 at 10:53 amHe where’s the troll?
Why isn’t he defending Gonzo and trashing McNulty?
Maybe he’s taking a smoking break…he’s smoking Karl Rove’s penis.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:54 amTom3,
Wait no longer! Of the four Gonzo choices you list, I think he has reached one of the benchmarks, he is pretty thoroughly discredited to the point he can no longer do his job.
But remember, he serves to pleasure the president. He can keep his job, even if it’s only a hand job.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:54 amGonzalez: ‘And that I RECALL well”…
May 15th, 2007 at 10:55 amWe must just be moments away from the widely telegraphed nuclear strike against the united states by Dick Cheney and his thugs.
Brian Williams knows it’s coming. So does Wolf Blitzer. The entire main stream media is telegraphing the punch by asking the question..”what will the nation do in the event of a nuclear strike on the homeland?”
Cheney has already told you that he will order an immediate atack against Iran, with nuclear weapons, following the “next 9/11.”
Since he ran the first one (as testified to under oath by the then head of the FAA, Norm Mineta), why shold we assume that he will not be directly in charge of the next one?
Tell your military leaders to arrest these criminals and all of their co-conspirators before they strike us again.
Everyone in Congress knows for a fact that 9/11 was an inside job.
There is no “Osama”
May 15th, 2007 at 10:55 am#16 J Scott
He’s got people skills, dammit! What’s the matter with you people?!!!
May 15th, 2007 at 10:56 amGonzales: “Basically, I’m a do-nothing hack.”
May 15th, 2007 at 10:57 amThe question I would have loved to have heard asked: “Considering your astonishing lack of memory before the Senate and House committees, why should anyone believe your recollection of events given here?”
May 15th, 2007 at 10:58 amSo much for the Republicans being the party of personal resposibility.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:59 amWhat a loser and weasel. At the end of the day, we all have to remember Gonzo signed off on the plan!
May 15th, 2007 at 10:59 amAG Sandbag sez:
Because as long as he occupies the position, we can’t have a real AG who can let these other investigations go forward.
In essence, as long as Alberto is still AG, no other actions can be taken. Basically, he’s running out the clock on behalf of Chimpy & Co.
Congress needs to impeach and remove Alberto post haste, to remove this impediment to justice.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:00 amGonzo is not only corrupt, but he’s a pussy.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:00 amSo much for, I don’t know, I can’t recall, my memory fails me, Bush, Rove and Cheney are innocent because my personal opinion is that I don’t think they’d do that kind of thing.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:02 amNo wonder McNulty wanted to spend more time with his family.
I guess Gonzo can add “complete dickwad” to his already shameful CV.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:04 amNOW
HE
REMEMBERS!
unbelievable!
May 15th, 2007 at 11:06 amAMAZING - what a great clip compilation.
Why is McNulty waiting three months to leave? Why not TODAY???
How can he stand being Deputy to this coward?
May 15th, 2007 at 11:07 amAlready Gonezales should try to recall that he may, indeed, be appearing before Congress again.
I don’t think Leahy, et al, will be as cordial or patient as they have with Bush’s lover in the past.
Clinton got BJ’s from Monica.
Bush get BJ’s from Alberto.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:10 amYes, the only person to blame is the one person who resigned this week and now can’t touch me.
AGAG is an unspeakable slimebag. How he’s able to look in the mirror is an astonishing thing.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:10 am“ACCOUNTABILITY.” Republicans, you keep using that word. I don’t that that word means what you think it means.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:10 amRove to Gonzo:
“Uhh…Alberto, when you’re in a hole, stop digging. Please stop leaving me voice mails, I can’t help you anymore.”
May 15th, 2007 at 11:12 amHey Zeus is a line from Diehard3, then Bruce Willis mistakenly calls Sammy L. Jesus, and he says he’s not Puerto Rican or something like that and that his name is Zeus.
On topic:
Does anyone else wonder if this case is just a carrot to distract the Congress while other shit is getting pulled?
This administration has ME paranoid…
May 15th, 2007 at 11:12 amIf this man isn’t forced to retire soon I’m going to have a heart attack. Please, ThinkProgress, keep bringing it hard to this sniffling yes-man.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:13 amJust remember, Gonzales got his job because there were some things even Ashcroft wouldn’t do.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:19 ami hate the guy.why the hell did they choose a hispanic moron for the job.This cretin gives our community a bad name.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:20 amNo. 3, Tripmaster:
May 15th, 2007 at 11:20 amI have to agree, it is interesting how the only thing this snake can remember is that it has to be someone els’ doing / fault.
He and his Uncle Junior are fresh out of friends.
It’s Junior and Garbonzo against the world !
the ag has all the qualities of a dog except loyalty.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:21 amThis can’t be real. How does this guy sleep at night?! Comment by Tweedster
How do any of these corrupt Bushites sleep at night? They lie in bed and think about torturing sheep.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:24 amThose comments should really help morale at the office…
May 15th, 2007 at 11:26 amso blatantly passing the buck.. this hombre has got some huevos
May 15th, 2007 at 11:27 amIt is AMAZING how the AG’s head doesn’t simply explode from all of the hot air in there!
May 15th, 2007 at 11:35 amSurprise, Gonzalez now remembering this very well….he can now ‘recall’ and ‘remember’ nicely….
May 15th, 2007 at 11:39 amwhy would the press club invite this idiot to speak. oh yeah, the press club(enablersAnonymous). they should ask him how in the hell did you get into college?
May 15th, 2007 at 11:41 amYou have been a very naughty nino Alberto!
May 15th, 2007 at 11:43 ami hate the guy.why the hell did they choose a hispanic moron for the job.This cretin gives our community a bad name.
Comment by Hector Garcia — May 15, 2007 @ 11:20 am
Don’t feel bad, Bush hires corrupt morons from every ethnic group.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:45 amYou know I think Karl Rove is the one who is really scared sh**less at the idea of Gonzo leaving. Congress will not allow a Bush suckup to take his place and if a new AG took over they might find out the REAL story at DOJ and people will go to jail.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:46 amGonzo does have a poor memory. He doesn’t remember that dissing the fired USA’s by saying it was “performance issues” cause them to speak out in the first place. Now Gonzo is dissing McNulty?!?!? gonzo better watch his back…
May 15th, 2007 at 11:46 amAbout those Greg Palast emails, I sure hope they saved the full headers on them — routing info, IP addresses, etc. I would hate to see this be another “Dan Rather Debacle”. Don’t put it past KKKarl to spoof some emails to muddy the waters.
But back to the topic at hand; I can’t wait for SOMEBODY to throw AGAG under the bus. (By the way, I love the acronym. I would choose to pronounce it A-GAG. Great pun on a couple of levels.)
May 15th, 2007 at 11:47 amWhy is everyone forgetting that it is the PRESIDENT, not the AG or Deputy AG, who has the authority AND RESPONSBILTY under the Constitution to appoint and/or dismiss U.S. Attys. An elaborate vetting process, including Senate confirmation hearings, is required for the appointment process. Now we find that responsibility for firing was delegated to very inexperienced subordinates who most likely acted for partisen reasons. To hell with the AG. Why wasn’t the Prisident required to sign off on these firings and why isn’t he being held accountable for a responsibility that is clearly his?
May 15th, 2007 at 11:47 amI guess evryone is to blame but the AG himself. Sounds like the President’s defense on everything as well.
“The whole world thought there were weapons.”
“It was just some low level offenders at Abu Ghraib.”
“Your doin’ a heckuva job Brownie!”
“No one could have predicted the 9-11 attacks.”
“No one could have predicted the level of violence that erupted after the fall of Baghdad.”
And of course there favorite excuse - “Clinton did it too!”
May 15th, 2007 at 11:53 amI think that every day, and every day it’s true.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:54 amWTF??? Gonzales testified that he didn’t know who put those names on the list and that he knew that it wasn’t Bush or Cheney. Now he’s telling everyone that it was McNulty. Flip flop perjury.
May 15th, 2007 at 12:00 pmMan!!! What a slime bucket!! This bozo can’t remember “jack” when Congress questioned him. Now his lips are flapping quicker than a jail-house snitch. He said “he” bears the sole responsiblity of what happens in the DOJ when he was testifying. NOW, he acts like he didn’t even work there. Not only should he be removed from office, he doesn’t even deserve the title of “A MAN”
May 15th, 2007 at 12:00 pmNow that is personal responsibility there. Way to grow a spine Gonzales and fess up for your lack of ethics and take responsibility for the mess you created. Oh wait, he didn’t take responsibility for anything. Never mind.
May 15th, 2007 at 12:22 pmMcNulty quit because of McNulty, not because of Gonzales. Get over the fretting and the whining. Gonzales hasn’t done anything wrong and he has the support of the President. Period!
May 15th, 2007 at 12:23 pmThe problem there is that the president doesn’t have the backing of the people, so what he wants and who he likes means nothing.
May 15th, 2007 at 12:27 pmOh, and by the way, the President was elected by a majority of the people of this country. So, whether you like him or not, you don’t really have a choice - other than relinquishing your citizenship and living in France or Mexico or Afghanistan, maybe?
May 15th, 2007 at 12:33 pmGonzo LIED to Congress about his involvement, first saying “NONE” and then SOME, but I DON’T REMEMBER.
If the firings were carried out to disrupt trials and indictments, then he HAS done something wrong.
OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE.
And Karl Rove needs to be put UNDER OATH.
Bush REFUSING to let Rove go UNDER OATH is like
Bush and Cheney REFUSING TO TESTIFY UNDER OATH TO THE 9/11 Commission.
And TRAITOR Reagan (Iran/Contra) and Clinton (Monica) have testified UNDER OATH, and so “executive privilege” is NOT valid here.
Gonzo is a TRAITOR and SO AM I.
See YOU in hell “hits” (cause I’LL be THERE),
May 15th, 2007 at 12:47 pmMr. Bush
MURDEROUS WAR CRIMINAL
COXUCKER PUNK TRAITOR TO THE USA (TM–BushCrimeCo, Inc.)
#63 Hits
McNulty quit because of McNulty, not because of Gonzales. Get over the fretting and the whining. Gonzales hasn’t done anything wrong and he has the support of the President. Period!
Are you a real assclown or just a parody of one?
Gonzales has repeatedly lied to Congress and covered up illegal activities. The president is complicit and has a long list of crimes all his own. Throw them both in the slammer. Exclamation point!
May 15th, 2007 at 12:48 pmI guess that catch phrase, “At the end of the day” really means “Pass the Buck” in Gonzo speak. I wouldn’t hire Big Al to defend a parking ticket. Incompetence personified! How’s this for a catch phrase, “The fish rots from the head down!” And the voters can smell the stench.
May 15th, 2007 at 12:49 pm#65 Hits
Oh, and by the way, the President was elected by a majority of the people of this country. So, whether you like him or not, you don’t really have a choice - other than relinquishing your citizenship and living in France or Mexico or Afghanistan, maybe?
The Democratic party was given control of both houses of Congress in the most recent election. Apparently, the voters don’t like the idea of Bush running things without a co-equal branch of government pulling in the reins on him and investigating the crap he’s been pulling for the last six years. Don’t like it? Leave.
May 15th, 2007 at 12:51 pm(By the way, I love the acronym. I would choose to pronounce it A-GAG. Great pun on a couple of levels.)
Comment by NCBlueneck
I’m hearing it as ag-ag, the sound you make when you puke.
May 15th, 2007 at 12:53 pmGonzales is like a drop of blood in a pool of (republican) sharks, now.
May 15th, 2007 at 12:55 pmCan someone comment on whether revelation of this information suggests or indicates that Gonzo perjured himself in his congressional testimony?
May 15th, 2007 at 12:57 pmHow high will be the levels of frikkin OUTRAGE of those on the House and Senate Judiciary Cmtees after Albatross Gonzo spills IN PUBLIC before the National Press Club what he wouldn’t spill to the Committees UNDER OATH????
May 15th, 2007 at 1:04 pmK-reist. Of course it’s perjury when you say “homma homma, I don’t know,” when you goddamned obviously DO know and you namedrop to the NPC, but not to Judiciary. It’s frikkin insult to injury. The arrogant little wad is rubbing their noses in it.
May 15th, 2007 at 1:09 pmGonzales responded, “Well again you have to remember at the end of the day, the recommendations reflected the views of the Deputy Attorney General. He signed off on the names and he would know better than anyone else.â€
I’m sure they will Mr. Gonzalez, I’m sure they will.
May 15th, 2007 at 1:16 pmHits, you should rearrange your handle bud.
Here’s a hint, it’ll end with h-i-t
May 15th, 2007 at 1:57 pm#30 TripMaster reply
Because as long as he occupies the position, we can’t have a real AG who can let these other investigations go forward.
In essence, as long as Alberto is still AG, no other actions can be taken. Basically, he’s running out the clock on behalf of Chimpy & Co.
Congress needs to impeach and remove Alberto post haste, to remove this impediment to justice.
well, I agree with “not letting investigation move forward”, as far “impeach” goes am very skeptical.
only positive point I see out of these for us is we’ll have lot of laughs from these like this http://www.crooksandliars.com/ 2007/ 05/ 15/ jon-stewart-exposes-the-bullht-ongoing-investigation-excuse/ by Stewart
May 15th, 2007 at 2:10 pmScroll by the trolls, people!
May 15th, 2007 at 2:48 pmThey just don’t get any lower … these people have no shame, none,- Nada, zilch, zero … which might be the secret to their success.
No one of decent mind would ever think anyone could be this low and rise to such high power.
But they have.
One of the true mysteries that I’m sure some exterrestrial arthropologist might ponder as he digs up our ruins.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:54 pmI sucked in air through my teeth when I saw that. AGAG sticks a knife in his deputy’s back the moment he’s turned it.
I don’t know what this is doing for the reputation of public office, but I can’t possibly imagine it’s anything good. If you lied so pervasively and so blatantly to your boss about responsibilities that were clearly yours and you refuse to take any blame or ‘didn’t recall’ something that was your job to recall, how long do you think you’d still be in your job?
Nobody who has to work for a living gets away with this shocking level of incompetence. On top of that it is the most disingenious and dishonorable display I have ever seen. I would not eat at Gonzales’ table, I would not accept a drink from him.
The only reason he is still there is because he is the lightning rod through which a whole lot of anger passes. And while he’s doing that The Rove very carefully removes anything that could stick to him from the record.
That this administration behaves like that is outrageous, but it is the standard they have set, we should not expect anything more. But that the public does not rise in revolt at being so blatantly, shamelessly and corrosively lied to, without going to the reflecting pond in DC in their hundreds of thousands in silent protest is even more outrageous.
The rich are shifting all the wealth in the country from the working people to the top 1% and now they’re not even bothering to cover their lies anymore. They just couldn’t care less about what the public thinks of them. I’d say just about now, a revolution would be in order. It’s long overdue.
May 16th, 2007 at 12:59 amChongo!
May 16th, 2007 at 9:25 amSo, let me get this straight. People got legally fired when they failed to perform their jobs to the satisfaction of their superiors. They got bitter and manufactured a scandal. This poor sap doesn’t roll over and play dead for his political assassins, employing every means of self defense at his disposal. And now you all want to impeach Bush.
Ummm… Oh kay…… Yea, this is the kind of thinking I want in our nation’s leaders.
May 16th, 2007 at 12:38 pmDid you also catch the inference that the performance issue was: not meeting up to White House expectations as to prosecution priorities, rather than being competant at a job.
May 16th, 2007 at 5:31 pmOK. So, now, McNulty is another candidate for use imunity. There are bigger fish to fry and whatever fuel he can add should be welcome.
May 16th, 2007 at 10:56 pmEqually important, McNulty’s testimony should provide a check on whatever Goodling has to say. If there’s an inconsistency, one of them will have to have violatd the terms of their immunity and become liable for the crimes they’ve worked so hard to conceal. At the very least, this would produce additional leverage for honest testimony.