Part III: Alberto Gonzales: The "Empty Suit" AG (WaPo)

[spindrifter]

Rough Justice - The Case Against Alberto Gonzales

Andrew Cohen

Brought into the President's cabinet amid oft-stated concerns that he was a mere crony and "facilitator" for the President, and with a controversial record as White House counsel and counsel to then-Texas Governor Bush, Alberto R. Gonzales' record since he took office as Attorney General is a dismal one. In fact, whether it is the legal war on terrorism or garden-variety issues of crime and punishment, it is hard to identify a single area of unchallenged success. And even where the current team at the Justice Department has enjoyed good news-- say, for example, in the area of increased sexual assault prosecutions or solid white-collar convictions-- the wheels for such victories already were in motion before Gonzales took on the job.

As I focused upon yesterday in Part II of this series, Gonzales' failures aren't just on substantive matters. He has continued to fail, some legal scholars say, to break free from the widespread and long-held perception that he is so beholden to the President, on both a personal and professional level, that he is cannot exercise the independent judgment necessary to properly fulfill his duties at the Justice Department.

In many ways, Gonzales's tenure at the Justice Department has justified the fears of his worst critics and given little favorable ammunition to his best friends. "I thought at the time that it was almost certainly a bad choice," says Stanley Katz, a legal historian at Princeton University. To Katz, Gonzales, upon taking the job as Attorney General was "a person with no experience at the national level, who appeared to be a sycophant of the president, who appeared to be a person who would be unlikely to be able to provide really good advice on big questions, and who appeared to be a person unlikely to be independent to some degree as attorney general and I think all of those things have proven to be true."

Other observers are not even that kind. John Dean, former White House counsel during the Watergate era, told me bluntly via email earlier this week that Gonzales "is an empty suit Attorney General. He is way over his head and it shows... He has been overwhelmed since the day he arrived in Washington in 2001." Two other sources also used the phrase "in over his head" when describing Gonzales and his work at the Justice Department. And one can only imagine what career lawyers within the Justice Department now are saying under their breath about their boss after he failed to adequately insulate them from political pressure from the White House and Congress. Actually, one need not imagine. They are beginning to speak out forcefully.

<more>

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/benchconference/

You can access Parts I and II at the link to this part, if you missed them.

[Fridays Child]

1. But he got Chimpy out of jury duty, on a drunk driving case, in Texas.

I ask you, what other qualification does the man need?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6857224/site/newsweek

[grasswire]

2. and let's repeat why Chimpy needed out of jury duty

If he had sat for jury duty, he would have had to answer a question on the jury questionnaire that he didn't want to answer: Have you ever been arrested for a crime? The DUI would have been exposed.

[Fridays Child]

3. Gonzo is a deep, inner circle loyalist who knows "things."

The question is whether that position places him at an advantage or makes him vulnerable. I don't know the answer but I do know that I wouldn't want to be him, right now.

[Demeter]

4. Gonzales Is Very Good At What He Does

Trouble is, it's all illegal, immoral, unconstitutional, and treasonous. Just like every other Bushbot.