Gonzales lays U.S. Attorneys' firings on his departing No. 2

[sabra]

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday his departing No. 2 at the department, Paul McNulty, had considerable input and played a pivotal role in the decision to fire eight U.S. Attorneys.

"At the end of the day, the recommendations represented the views of the deputy attorney general. He signed off on the names," Gonzales said, speaking to a group of reporters. "He would have knowledge about the qualifications and experiences of the U.S. Attorneys and he signed off on the names."

McNulty announced yesterday that he was leaving the department, citing the financial strains of having college-aged children. He is the highest-ranking official to leave the department since the storm over the fired U.S. Attorneys arose.

Gonzales said, if he had it to do over, he would have had McNulty more directly involved in the evaluation process to determine which U.S. Attorneys to replace. That process was led by Gonzales' former chief of staff, Utah native Kyle Sampson.
"The one person I would care about are the views of the deputy attorney general," Gonzales said. "At the end of the day, my understanding was that Mr. Sampson's recommendations represented the views of the senior leadership at the department, in particular the deputy attorney general."

Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5900794

[maddezmom]

1. Gonzo throwing him under the bus

:eyes:

if he was the point person, why the hell didn't he say that during the hearing with Conyers.

Gonzales: Deputy was pointman on firings
WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday he relied on his resigning deputy more than any other aide to decide which U.S. attorneys should be fired last year.

His comments come a less than a day after Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty announced he would resign at the end of the summer — a decision that people familiar with the plans said was hastened by the controversy over the purge of eight prosecutors.

"You have to remember, at the end of the day, the recommendations reflected the views of the deputy attorney general. He signed off on the names," Gonzales told reporters at a National Press Club forum in Washington. "And he would know better than anyone else, anyone in this room, anyone — again, the deputy attorney general would know best about the qualifications and the experiences of the United States attorneys community, and he signed off on the names."

Gonzales also called McNulty's pending departure "a loss. ... I'm really going to miss him." But he said he relied on McNulty's views more than another other adviser, and said he was reassured by his deputy as recently as March that the firings all were justified.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070515/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/fired_prosecutors_1

[Roland99]

9. Then kicking and stabbing the nearly-lifeless body.

[Lobster Martini]

11. "...I'm really going to miss him." What? You just kneecapped him on his way out.

He just tied McNulty to the railroad tracks like Dudley Dooright's girl Nell and he'll "miss him"! Does this guy have a restraining order keeping him from visiting reality?

[ourvoicescount]

19. Can't wait to hear McNutty once he's been out a while and tired of being kicked as the problem...

[tabasco]

32. He's probably been paid well under the table to be the fall guy.

A year in prison might be worth a few million dollars to a lot of people.

[CallBox7]

26. The obvious answer

He couldn't tell Conyers that it was McNutty that did the bad deeds because he couldn't remember at the time. Now that the guy resigned, it has "jogged" his memory a bit. *snicker*

[Nickster]

2. Well, well, well. The ball is in your court now Mr. McNulty. Obviously, your old friends won't

hesitate to throw you under the bus to save themselves.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Of course - blame the deserting rats

Q: Why didn't he do that when this first came up? A: Because it isn't true.

[maddezmom]

6. exactly

Hope McNulty comes before Schumer, Leahy, etc again to "clear things up".

[bemildred]

4. Good, maybe we can get them to rat each other out. nt

[noise]

5. Then

he added, "I take full responsibility."

[AndyA]

7. You mean Gonzo actually REMEMBERS something?

I'm shocked! You could knock me over with a feather! Who knew the man actually had a memory?!?!?!?!

You sure couldn't have proved it by his testimoney before the various committees.

[underpants]

15. Suddenly he remembers exactly what happened

I was going to post the same thing.

BTW-How does Alberto find his car every night?

:shrug:

Does he wonder around DC clicking his trunk latch button until he sees one open up?

How does he remember how to get home?

[frogcycle]

8. he reminds me of that SNL character by the xerox

yeah now I remember! McNulty did it! That's it! That's the ticket!

[OnyxCollie]

17. Wrong character.

Rob Schneider was the copy machine guy. "Bobarino! Makin' copies!"

John Lovitt was the pathological liar guy. "Me and my wife, Morgan Fairchild. Yeah, that's the ticket!"

[frogcycle]

20. yeah, ok, the mind is going

hardly ever watched it after the original crew left

gonzo is a blend of both - the pathological liar wasn't disingenuous enough to hold a candle to gonzo - gotta throw in some of the suck-up to even come close

:)

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

10. So he finally recalled something, eh?

:rofl:

[Jim Warren]

12. Hey McNulty

pick it up

[maddezmom]

13. you can watch his comments on CSPAN here

http://www.c-span.org/

Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales at the Nat'l Press Club (5/15/2007


Q&A starts around 24:OO

[krispos42]

14. Wow, that was fast.

Like, 18 hours, including sleepy time.

I'm sure that if McNulty had be killed in a tragic accident last night instead, Gonzo would have said the exact same thing today.

[maddezmom]

16. you've got to watch the Q&A on CSPAN

he's pushing the blame on McNulty, etc and taking responsiblity at the same time. :crazy:

[BigDDem]

18. Oh, now I remember, it's someone else's fault

That sounds about right.

[xxqqqzme]

21. '...At the end of the day, my understanding was that

Mr. Sampson's recommendations represented the views of the senior leadership at the department, in particular the deputy attorney general."...'

Again, exactly what does gonzo actually DO @ DoJ?

[napi21]

22. I don't McNul ty is going to take this lightely!

I think McNulty is clean, and he's getting out of Dodge because of all the sh*t that's falling every day. He's supposed to testify before Congress, and I think soon. Throwing him under the bus iss going to make that a very interesting testimony! Now instead of just having to duck out of the way of all the crap, it's being thrown directly at him. Nobody likes that, and I'd bet he's gonna slam it right back to where it belings!

[truthisfreedom]

23. Follow the money. If cheney gets him a cush job with 6 or 7 figures, he may just take it lying down

[alcibiades_mystery]

25. Nope...McNulty entered into this arrangement

He steps down, Gonzo blames him, he takes job in fancy law firm to pay for kid's college.

It's all set up.

The only thing that's hopeful here is that they felt forced to do it. They are sweating badly, probably on account of Goodling'impending testimony. Now she has a chance to perjure herself as well, laying it at McNulty's feet, and he will accept that (in exchange for the well-paid sinecure).

These people are operators. Gonzo wouldn't throw McNulty under the bus this publicly unless he knew that McNulty would nod at it.

[CallBox7]

27. Sadly...

You are probably correct.

[windy252]

24. Aw, isn't that cute.

Another attempt to find a scapegoat.

[txaslftist]

28. Gonzales is a steaming number 2. I just wish he'd depart.

[lovuian]

29. Hey it work with Libby he took the fall and Cheney & Rove

stayed... its the typical tactic

[knight_of_the_star]

30. Wow

So the AG isn't actually running the Justice Department now? Is that what Gonzo is saying because I would think that sounds even worse than the previous bullshit.

[caligirl]

31. Follow McNulty's trail so to speak, Yang got 1.5 mil and a job for

caving to them. All she had to do was complain about her money problems. Watch where McNulty lands after this one.

[Marrak]

33. OUCH! He "recalls" what?

McNulty's got to swing right back at "Torture-memo boy" with the truth...
:kick:

[L. Coyote]

34. K&R

[NastyRiffraff]

35. SUDDENLY he recalls that McNulty was behind it all

After REPEATEDLY refusing to name names when asked who was responsible and waffling before Congress. One Representative (I forget who now) went ballistic because Gonzo wouldn't give a single name. Now, he names McNulty after the guy "resigned."

After Jim Comey's testimony today, where it came out that he AND Ashcroft wanted to resign immediately after the "hospital incident," these resignations take on a whole new meaning.

Wonder what McNulty has on Gonzo, hmmmm? Stay tuned.

[Nightjock]

36. This is getting hard to follow

Could someone help me understand it a little better? Does this mean Gonzalez is "off the hook" now?