Since Alberto Gonzales is now among the political undead — not alive, but unvanquishable in his own liminal existence — I guess it can’t be called a death of a thousand cuts. But there’s still something almost lyrical in the campaign of leaks congressional investigators are putting in his path.
As you know, Gonzales is returning to Capitol Hill on Thursday to testify before the House Judiciary Committee. Time now reports that Kyle Sampson told congressional investigators “three times in as many minutes that Gonzales was angry with McNulty because he had exposed the White House’s involvement in the firings had put it’s (sic) role “in the public sphere,” as Sampson phrased it, according to Congressional sources familiar with the interview.”
The earlier story was the Gonzales was upset with McNulty’s testimony because he’d conceded that there was no reason for Bud Cummins’ removal other than the desire to replace him with someone else.
I’m very curious to see how this goes on Thursday (and of course we’ll be bringing you wall to wall coverage). The real work of investigations usually takes place in private staff interviews. The public ones, especially the televised ones, get too wound up in theatrics and drawn out verbiage. Not enough pointed question and follow-up.
But Alberto Gonzales has been caught in so many lies at this point — lies from his own mouth and others on his behalf from staffers — that I’m not sure how he’d get out of the hearing room in one piece if the members of the committee really went for a pointed examination.
