Liar or Incompetent? Impeach Gonzales

BOSTON- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, amid a growing clamor for his resignation, acknowledged Friday confusion about of his role in firing eight U.S. attorneys but said he doesn't "recall being involved in deliberations" over which prosecutors were to be ousted.

"I believe in truth and accountability and every step that I've taken is consistent with that principle," Gonzales said when asked why he is not heeding calls to resign. "I am fighting for the truth as well...."

"I signed off on the recommendations and signed off on the implementation plan, and that's the extent of my involvement," he told reporters after a holding a round-table discussion in the U.S. attorney's office here with state and federal law enforcement officials about a Justice Department initiative to thwart online predators....

In his meeting Friday with reporters, Gonzales said his "primary focus was ensuring that the White House was kept advised on what we were doing and that Kyle was consulting with the appropriate senior officials, people who knew about the performances of the United States attorneys."

Here's Sampson's side of the story, given under oath:

Responding to questions from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Sampson rejected the notion that the dismissals were ordered by young or inexperienced Justice Department officials.

"The decision makers in this case were the attorney general and the counsel to the president," he told the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I and others made staff recommendations but they were approved and signed off on by the principals...."

"The attorney general was aware of this process from the beginning in early 2005," Sampson testified Thursday. "He and I had discussions about it during the thinking phase of the process. Then in the more final phase ... he asked me to make sure that the process was appropriate."

Gonzales said on March 13 that he did not participate in discussions or see any documents about the firings. Documents released last week show he attended a Nov. 27 meeting with senior aides on the topic, where he approved a detailed plan to carry out the dismissals. Gonzales later recanted, saying he had signed off on the plan to fire the prosecutors.

Kyle Sampson at least has the good sense to say that senior staff were making this decision. Gonzales is so busy trying to save his sorry ass he's willing to portray himself as so uninvolved and incompetent as to let junior staff make these critical decisions.

So it comes down to either Gonzales is a total liar and was involved up to his eyeballs in the Prosecutor Purge, or what's even worse, didn't give a damn about the performance of his 93 U.S. Attorneys and just left if all up to Kyle Sampson.  The more he talks the worse it gets.

Of course, there's the most definite possibility that he's both a total liar and completely incompetent. Either way, he's not fit to serve as the nation's highest law enforcement officer.