Today’s Must Read

Finally, the time has come.

Alberto Gonzales will sit down before the Senate Judiciary Committee at 9:30 this morning. What to expect?

Well, from Gonzales, some notions of regret (though not about the firings themselves) and many failures to recollect details of conversations (coincidentally, the conversations everyone wants to hear about).

The papers this morning give us some indications of where the senators will focus their questioning.

One U.S. attorney in particular will be front and center — New Mexico’s David Iglesias. The New York Times explains why:

That case, perhaps more than any of the other ousters, demonstrates the interaction of the Republican Party, the White House, a prominent Republican senator and Mr. Gonzales that led up to the firings.

Investigators have already determined that Mr. Gonzales spoke directly three times with Senator Pete V. Domenici, Republican of New Mexico, about his complaints regarding David C. Iglesias, the state’s former top federal prosecutor.

Administration officials have confirmed that Mr. Gonzales also spoke with President Bush and Karl Rove, the president’s chief political adviser, about the perceived lack of enthusiasm in Mr. Iglesias’s office, among others, for prosecuting voting fraud cases, a top Republican Party priority. And investigators know that Mr. Iglesias’s name was among the last to be added to the ouster list.

The Times adds that committee staffers think that “given the repeated instances in which Mr. Gonzales was directly involved in discussions related to Mr. Iglesias, it might be hard for the attorney general to refuse to testify about these discussions or any follow-up conversations or to deny any recollection of them.” Oh, how they underestimate Gonzales.

But not to worry — Iglesias won’t be the sole focus. Senators will have a fine time prodding Gonzales about his numerous contradictions.

As for Gonzales, he will focus “particularly on reassuring Republican lawmakers,” senators like Arlen Specter (R-PA) who haven’t said yet that he should resign.