Bad news for Gonzales:

Goodling’s announcement, some senior Republicans felt, strengthened the Democrats’ charge that the Justice Department had something to hide.

All of which added up to scandal fatigue inside the caucus, the senators said.

Specter’s appeal to the caucus [to downplay Goodling's announcement] received “a lot of head shaking, a lot of eye-rolling,” said one senator who attended and spoke on condition of anonymity because the session was private.

Asked Tuesday if Gonzales had lost their confidence, many Senate Republicans demurred.

Chief climate skeptic Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) “is vowing to stall Gore’s hotly anticipated Capitol concert to draw attention to global warming,” claiming it is a “partisan” event, despite its bipartisan sponsorship. “Inhofe appeared to see little room for an accommodation that could allow the concert to go forward. ‘There’s no compromise.’”

This weekend, ThinkProgress caught up with Dennis and his wife Elizabeth Kucinich to get their thoughts on a variety of issues. Here are some highlights:

Elizabeth on health care:

I’m from Europe — wherever I travel in Europe — we can all get universal health care coverage. It’s astounding to me — as I came into this country a few years ago — to see how many people don’t have access. And all of these political strings that are attached to people, to say that’s not possible. Well, it is possible. The rest of the world does it.

Dennis on his opposition to the Iraq supplemental bill:

I have voted against each and every appropriation for the war…because it’s not plausible to say that you are for peace and that you continue to fund the war. … [The war is] moving on now with the support of a lot of good people who ought to know better. … And the fact that most Democrats bought into this — let me tell you something. I’m not afraid to take a stand.

Dennis on refusing to endorse the Fox News boycott:

I continue to challenge Fox. MoveOn’s right about a lot of things they said about Fox. But, you know, I’m a presidential candidate. I have to be ready to go into the lion’s den. I’m a vegetarian and a vegan — I mean, maybe the lion doesn’t want to eat me because I’m a vegan.

Watch the interview:

Read the transcript HERE.

FBI Director Robert Mueller testified today before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the FBI’s improper use of National Security Letters. At one point, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) asked Mueller about the decision by Monica Goodling, counsel to Alberto Gonzales, to invoke her Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination.

Mueller said that while he has not been “focused on thinking back to circumstances where it may have happened in the past,” he could not ever remember a time when a Justice Department official had taken the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying.

Watch it:

As the Justice Department’s White House liaison, Goodling appears to be “squarely in the middle of what appears to have been improper directions from the White House to politicize the hiring and firing of United States attorneys.” As the New York Times wrote today, her refusal to testify takes the scandal to a “new level” and compounds need for Mr. Gonzales to testify “without delay in full public view.”

– Ryan Powers

Transcript: Read more

“Two Americans, a contractor and a soldier, were killed in a rocket attack on the heavily guarded Green Zone on Tuesday, according to statements from the U.S. Embassy and the military. Five other people were wounded, one contractor who was seriously hurt and three with slight wounds. A second soldier also was wounded in the attack, but the military did not give a condition.”

Yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told radio host Bill Bennett that President Bush’s escalation is working. “There are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods, today,” he said. Today, when CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked McCain why Americans still aren’t able to safely leave the Green Zone in Iraq, the senator replied that Blitzer was giving three-month-old talking points:

General Petraeus goes out there almost every day in an unarmed humvee. I think you oughta catch up. You are giving the old line of three months ago. I understand it. We certainly don’t get it through the filter of some of the media.

But according to CNN reporter Michael Ware, who has been in Iraq for four years, McCain is “way off base.” He stated, “To suggest that there’s any neighborhood in this city where an American can walk freely is beyond ludicrous. I’d love Sen. McCain to tell me where that neighborhood is and he and I can go for a stroll.”

Ware also rebutted McCain’s assertion that Petaeus travels in an unarmed humvee: “[I]n the hour since Sen. McCain’s said this, I’ve spoken to military sources and there was laughter down the line. I mean, certainly the general travels in a humvee. There’s multiple humvees around it, heavily armed.” Watch it:

(Crooks and Liars has more.)

Digg It!

Transcript: Read more

Speaking on the Senate floor today, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said his answer is “no, no, no” to the question of whether there should be a redeployment from Iraq.

Lieberman offered a discombobulated explanation for his opposition, stating on the one hand he believes the U.S. military can and should “police a civil war,” while on the other hand stating Iraq is not in a civil war.

Lieberman claimed the “facts” suggest Iraq is not in a civil war. But seconds before, he said, “Why do proponents of withdrawal from Iraq keep insisting that [our] American troops shouldn’t be policing a civil war?” Watch it:

Lieberman repeatedly said that “proponents of withdrawal” claim Iraq is in civil war to suggest that the mission is “hopeless.” Note to Lieberman: It’s not just “proponents of withdrawal” who recognize Iraq is in a civil war; the Pentagon and the intelligence community have declared Iraq a civil war.

Digg It!

UPDATE: More on Lieberman’s dissembling on Iraq from Greg Sargent.

Transcript: Read more