Friday, April 20, 2007

York on Gonzales   [Rich Lowry]

Don’t miss Byron’s excellent piece on Gonzales’s dismaying performance yesterday. There’s this for instance:

[Brownback] methodically went down the names of the eight U.S. attorneys who had been fired, starting with Daniel Bogden, the U.S. attorney in Nevada sacked in the group firing of last December 7.

“Senator, this is probably that one that to me, in hindsight, was the closest call,” Gonzales began. “I do not recall what I knew about Mr. Bogden on December 7th. That’s not to say that I wasn’t given a reason; I just don’t recall the reason. I didn’t have an independent basis or recollection of knowing about Mr. Bogden’s performance.”

Gonzales explained that, after the Bogden firing, he went back to look at documents relating to the matter. “It appears that there were concerns about the level of energy, generally, in a fast-growing district,” Gonzales explained, “concerns about his commitment to pursuing obscenity…and just generally getting a sense of new energy in that office.” But after the controversy over the firing blew up, Gonzales continued, he wondered whether getting rid of Bogden had been the right thing to do. So he asked a top staffer whether he should stand behind the decision. “I went to the deputy attorney general,” Gonzales said, “and I asked him, ‘OK, do we stand behind these decisions?’” The deputy attorney general said yes, so Gonzales stood by his decision. In the end, Gonzales explained, even though he did not know why he fired Bogden, “I believe it was still the right decision.”

Yes, the AG has the right to fire these people for pretty much any reason, but he, at least, should know why he's firing them.

UPDATE

A friend writes to put a finer point on it:

Rich:  In your post on Byron's excellent piece, you state:  "Yes, the AG has the right to fire these people for pretty much any reason, but he, at least, should know why he's firing them."  But the AG doesn't have the right to fire them.  US Attorneys are presidential appointees who can be fired only by the president.  It is therefore all the more surprising that the basis for the AG's recommendation to the president was not documented.

04/20 11:47 AMShare