So let’s move on, shall we? Pictured: via the LA Times, an observer holds up his scorecard for how many times today Gonzales said “I can’t recall”. Hope he can remember where he parked his car. Snip:
But even conservative Republicans expressed outrage at how Gonzales had handled the issue, putting his continued tenure at risk. Sen. Thomas Coburn (R-Okla.) asked the attorney general, “Why should you not be judged by the same standards you judged these U.S. attorneys?” When Gonzales said, “We all make mistakes” and asked for time to correct his failings, Coburn replied, “Mistakes have consequences.”
Disavowing allegations of partisan motive in the firings — “I know that’s the politics of the blood sport that we’re playing,” he said — Coburn argued, “The best way to put this behind us is your resignation.”
Still, after the testimony, President Bush expressed continued confidence in his attorney general. “President Bush was pleased with the attorney general’s testimony today,” deputy press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement. “After hours of testimony in which he answered all of the senators’ questions and provided thousands of pages of documents, he again showed that nothing improper occurred.”
Noting that Gonzales “admitted the matter could have been handled much better,” Perino said, “The attorney general has the full confidence of the president.”
In a case-by-case litany, Gonzales was asked to explain why each of the eight attorneys was let go.
Of Carol Lam in San Diego, the attorney general said there had been complaints that she was not vigorously prosecuting gun and immigration cases. At a time when border security was a national concern, he said, “I felt we should do better, much better, in this effort.”
Of Daniel Bogden in Nevada, Gonzales said that in hindsight, his dismissal was “the closest call,” but the case fell on “concerns about the level of his energy” and “his commitment in pursuing obscenity.”
Link.