The lies about the U.S. Attorneys scandal that he told under oath provide plenty of ammunition for possible perjury and contempt-of-Congress charges.
You'll recall that when Gonzo was first questioned about the attorneys situation, he told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he would "never, ever" use political criteria when assessing U.S. Attorneys' right to remain in their posts. When questioned later by the press about his role in the unfolding scandal of U.S. Attorneys fired for partisan reasons, Gonzales claimed that he was almost entirely out of the loop when it came to the firings and replacements. Moi?
Since that time, documents have been located that contradict Gonzo's statements and make it plain that he was up to his eyeballs in partisan maneuvering to replace certain U.S. Attorneys with more malleable types. Those U.S. Attorneys who wouldn't necessarily do their political bidding (mainly dealing with indicting Democrats for alleged "voter fraud" and looking the other way when Republicans faced possible legal action), were to be let go and replaced with "loyal Bushies," to use the term from Kyle Sampson's e-mail to him.
Sampson, Gonzales' chief of staff, claimed in his Senate testimony that no replacements were considered prior to the firings. But documents have surfaced revealing that he began compiling a list of U.S. Attorneys ripe for firing and their possible replacements a full year before the U.S. attorneys were eased out.
Even more damning, there was an e-mail from Gonzales' assistant Monica Goodling to two key DOJ officials: "This is the chart that the AG requested," with a grid listing the U.S. Attorneys' political and ideological persuasions, including whether they were members of the rightwing Federalist Society, much in favor in the White House for judicial appointments and other employment.
Now, John Conyers, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, wants to see the RNC e-mails relating to the U.S. Attorneys firings. However, even though these e-mails supposedly are "private" rather than official White House communications, the Administration (surprise!) is claiming "executive privilege" to keep them secret. No wonder since Bush himself is now directly implicated in the scandal. ( http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003017.php )
THE "WHITE HOUSE HORRORS"
The reason why the Bush Administration is trying so hard to avoid testimony under oath before Congress is that once one thread is pulled out in an investigation, another one gets noticed and needs to be probed, and pretty soon all sorts of ugly, hidden crimes are out there for all to see. That way lies impeachment and conviction, and with them the loss of the protections that go with power. And thus the Administration must engage in elaborate cover-ups to keep the truth away from the light of day.
In President Richard Nixon's Watergate travails in the early-1970s, the fear of the Administration was that the Senate investigation of the bugging and break-in of Democratic Headquarters would unravel the various threads leading to what Attorney General John Mitchell termed "the White House horrors" -- i.e., all the other felonies committed, including slush funds to bribe witnesses for their silence, break-ins at doctors' offices, plots and conspiracies to kidnap and maybe even murder opponents, etc.
When that assault on the Constitution and democratic government became known and impeachment hearings were held in the House, Nixon resigned before he could be tried in the Senate.
Certainly, Rove and Cheney and Gonzales and Bush understand the possible consequences of the truth coming out in the various Administration scandals. Just a few months ago, with a compliant Republican-controlled Congress and a docile media, they didn't have to worry about legal ramifications. Now, with bulldog Democrats like Leahy, Waxman, Conyers and others in charge of the investigations, there is every likelihood that the Bush Administration's own "White House Horrors" will be uncovered, and impeachment hearings might likely follow.
O happy day!
Bernard Weiner, Ph.D. in government & international relations, has taught at universities in California and Washington, worked as a writer/editor for the San Francisco Chronicle, and currently co-edits the progressive website The Crisis Papers (www.crisispapers.org). For comment: crisispapers@comcast.net .
Bernard Weiner, Ph.D. in government & international relations, has taught at universities in California and Washington, worked for two decades as a writer-editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, and currently serves as co-editor of The Crisis Papers (www.crisispapers.org).
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