There was a revealing moment during the questioning by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA). When pressed on the process of removing the U.S. attorneys and what Gonzales knew about it, Gonzales replied that since the judiciary committees had been interviewing all of Gonzales’ aides, that investigators now know more about the firings that Gonzales does.
Kennedy also pressed on whether Gonzales had ever done an evaluation about whether the firings would affect certain ongoing prosecutions. Gonzales replied no, because the assistant U.S. attorneys in the offices are really the ones who handle the cases — the U.S. attorneys are important, he allowed, but “this institution is built to sustain change.” It doesn’t matter all that much, who’s in charge, apparently.
