# Will AG Gonzalez have to resign? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 12, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642 "2007-03-12T18:22:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2007, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/41 "2007-03-21T11:18:03Z")
Gonzo isn’t going anywhere as long as he runs interference during the current “testimony” scandal. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/42 "2007-03-21T15:43:20Z")
I wouldn’t be surprised to see AGAG gone within the next week or two. The story isn’t going away, it’s an embarrassment and a distraction for the administration, and it looks like Gonzales was more involved right after the '04 election than he’s previously admitted. I suspect he’s going to fall on his sword with words to the effect of “Although I’ve done nothing wrong, I cannot fully focus on the important work of the DoJ while this partisan controversy distracts us all” and “I am deeply grateful for the President’s unflinching support, but have concluded that it would be better for him and for the Nation if someone else were to now take up the duties of this great office,” etc. [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) reports that White House flunkies have been quietly looking into potential AG nominees. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/43 "2007-03-24T02:08:32Z")
I’d say he’s about to be toast… _WASHINGTON (AP) – Attorney General Alberto Gonzales approved plans to fire several U.S. attorneys in a November meeting, according to documents released Friday that contradict earlier claims that he was not closely involved in the dismissals._ [http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/23/us.attorneys.gonzales.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/23/us.attorneys.gonzales.ap/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/44 "2007-03-24T04:12:26Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] I suspect he’s going to fall on his sword … . [/QUOTE] That would have worked several weeks ago, but that ship has sailed. Gonzales will resign, but that won’t stop the hemorrhage. He lied in his testimony to Congress … that destroys the administration’s political cover for having Rove and Miers avoid testifying under oath. They can’t very well maintain that they’re merely honest public servants standing on principle when the AG has just been caught in a flat-out lie. Half a dozen people were in the meeting to discuss the firings. (The one meeting we know about … there may have been more.) They’ll all be testifying soon too. Every single one of them is a potential time bomb. Then there’s the 18-day gap of missing emails … Lord only knows what else will come to light when that finally gets dragged out into the open. We’re just at the beginning of this. _“We have a cancer–within, close to the Presidency, that’s growing. It’s growing daily. It’s compounding, it grows geometrically now because it compounds itself.”_ ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/45 "2007-03-24T07:41:25Z")
Something that stands out from me from [CNN’s coverage](http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/24/fired.attorneys/index.html): > [@](#): > > In the eighth firing, a Justice Department official has acknowledged that the U.S. attorney in Arkansas was pushed out so he could be replaced by a Rove protege. And there you have it. Not fired for performance. Fired because a crony of Rove’s wanted his job (or because Rove wanted his crony to have that particular job). Will wonders never cease? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/46 "2007-03-24T13:54:46Z")
Recently released documents show [Gonzalez actively participated in the firings.](http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2978221) See also [here.](http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/16964188.htm) Al, start updating your resume. And get your best suit cleaned for your Medal of Freedom ceremony. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/47 "2007-03-24T16:31:29Z")
Why is it that these revelations that appear to be the most damaging always seem to come out late in the day on Fridays? Won’t help, though they’re still doing their best at [spinning it](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/24/washington/24attorney.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin): > [@](#): > > Tasia Scolinos, a Justice Department spokeswoman, told reporters on Friday evening that Mr. Gonzales’s attendance at the hourlong meeting was not inconsistent with his past remarks. > > “He tasked his chief of staff to carry this plan forward,” Ms. Scolinos said. “He did not participate in the selection of the U.S. attorneys to be fired. He did sign off on the final list.” > > Ms. Scolinos said the meeting was in Mr. Gonzales’s conference room at the Justice Department. The meeting focused on “rollout” of the dismissals, she said, and from available records was not a meeting in which a final target list was determined. > > Another department official said that Mr. Gonzales did not recall the meeting and that his aides had been unable to determine whether he approved the dismissal plan then. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/48 "2007-03-24T17:23:37Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Recently released documents show [Gonzalez actively participated in the firings.](http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2978221) See also [here.](http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/16964188.htm) Al, start updating your resume. And get your best suit cleaned for your Medal of Freedom ceremony. [/QUOTE] Yeah. It’s all over except for the twisting in the wind. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/49 "2007-03-24T18:43:29Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] It’s all over except for the twisting in the wind. [/QUOTE] Good thing it’s tornado season up here then. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/50 "2007-03-26T15:12:14Z")
Update: Over the weekend, [four Republican senators made public statements critical of Gonzalez](http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=179156) – Orrin Hatch (Utah), Chuck Hagel (Nebraska), Lindsey Graham (South Carolina), and Arlen Specter (Pennsylvania). ---
**Author:** ![Spiral\_Stairs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Spiral\_Stairs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiral_Stairs)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/51 "2007-03-26T22:28:26Z")
I can’t imagine Gonzalez will survive, now that an attorney identified as his “senior counsel” has indicated that she will invoke her Fifth Amendment privileges before Congress. I would imagine that the committee will haul her in despite her statement that she won’t provide substantive testimony, and make her say so on the record. It will be a spectacle. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/52 "2007-03-26T22:52:32Z")
5th Amendment priviledge? And I thought the story all along was that nothing illegal happened! Why would she be afraid of incriminating herself if everything was completely legit? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/53 "2007-03-26T23:02:22Z")
Come to think of it . . . not even the Admin’s fiercest detractors have been alleging any actual prosecutable **crime** happened in connection with this business . . . This lawyer’s reluctance, expressed in such terms, strongly suggests there’s even more sleaze going on here than meets the eye. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/54 "2007-03-26T23:05:40Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] Why would she be afraid of incriminating herself if everything was completely legit? [/QUOTE] It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/55 "2007-03-29T02:37:23Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. 😉 [/QUOTE] Inside a burrito. 😃 And in other AG/AG news: [**HO LEE COW**](http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54861) :eek: ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/56 "2007-03-29T02:52:15Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] Inside a burrito. 😃 And in other AG/AG news: [**HO LEE COW**](http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54861) :eek: [/QUOTE] Hold on, that is World Net Daily. We need a better source. WND is Totally unreliable in my experience. (They were among the ones that claimed Plame’s neighbors knew that she was a cover agent, and to this day they never pointed out who were they) The only thing to notice though is that WND is a very conservative site and I think that them piling on Gonzalez could mean that even the extreme right is worried that Bush standing for Gonzalez will indeed hurt all Republicans in 2008 if they do not take care of him now. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/57 "2007-03-29T03:08:55Z")
Well, everything seems to trace back to [here](http://www.lonestarproject.net/archive/2007-03-09%20-%20TYC_Abbott.pdf), which does provide cites for several first-hand sources. YMMV, of course (I’m not up on Texas politics and what swings right & left down there, source-wise), but if this pans out, we have another Mark Foley-type scenario brewing… ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/58 "2007-03-29T03:15:54Z")
[QUOTE=GIGObuster] them piling on Gonzalez could mean that even the extreme right is worried that Bush standing for Gonzalez will indeed hurt all Republicans in 2008 if they do not take care of him now. [/QUOTE] But caving on Gonzales might **embolden** the [del]terrorists[/del] Democrats: [Time to Go at the NRO](http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTNjY2U3Yjk0NTRmNTcyNjg1M2EwM2FlNTA0OTYyMzU=) > [@](#): > > What little credibility Gonzales had is gone. All that now keeps him in office, save the friendship of the president, is the conviction of many Republicans that removing him would embolden the Democrats. It is an overblown fear. The Democrats will pursue scandals, real or invented, whether or not Gonzales stays. But they have an especially inviting target in Gonzales. He cannot defend the administration and its policies even when they deserve defense. Alberto Gonzales should resign. The Justice Department needs a fresh start. In other news, the [Justice Department admits it misinformed](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070329/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/fired_prosecutors_270) congress about the involvement of the white house in the firings. > [@](#): > > In a letter accompanying new documents sent to the House and Senate Judiciary committees, Justice officials acknowledged that a Feb. 23 letter to four Democratic senators erred in asserting that the department was not aware of any role Rove played in the decision to appoint Griffin to replace U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins in Little Rock, Ark. The latest emails make it look like a conspiracy with the white house: [White House OK’ed Sampson Statement on Rove](http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002901.php) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/59 "2007-03-29T14:33:59Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] The latest emails make it look like a conspiracy with the white house: [White House OK’ed Sampson Statement on Rove](http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002901.php) [/QUOTE] Keep in mind, however, that we cannot trust the administration’s email records because [they’ve been conducting so much business through “unofficial” and, they presumably hope, undiscoverable channels](http://wonkette.com/politics/internets/bush-administration-has-double+secret-private-communication-system-247906.php). ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642/60 "2007-03-29T21:54:45Z")
Which are subpoenable and not subject to even the hokiest executive privilege claim. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-ag-gonzalez-have-to-resign/395642.md?page=4)