Justice Spokesman: Gonzales 'Extremely Upset' by McNulty Testimony

[rodeodance]

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Justice Spokesman: Gonzales 'Extremely Upset' by McNulty Testimony

But Gonzales, who was in South America that day, was furious when he read news stories about McNulty's testimony. "The attorney general is extremely upset with the stories on the US attys this morning," wrote Brian Roehrkasse, a Justice Department spokesman, in an e-mail to Sampson and Tasia Scolinos, the chief spokeswoman for the department. "He also thought some of the DAG's statements were inaccurate." Scolinos responded to the e-mail that she, too, "didn't think the hearing had gone all that well." Roehrkasse suggested in his e-mail that the department offer a "clearly worded op-ed" and reach out "to boards who will write in coming days" to help straighten out the situation. Gonzales then wrote an editorial that ran in USA Today in which he tried to reconcile McNulty's testimony with his own and to make clear that McNulty's "performance-related" phrase should not be interpreted to mean a negative or inadequate performance by the attorneys. "To be clear, it was for reasons related to policy, priorities and management — what have been referred to broadly as "performance-related" reasons — that seven U.S. attorneys were asked to resign last December," Gonzales wrote. But it was too late. The U.S. attorneys who had initially told the administration they would quietly resign began to speak out publicly and defend themselves. "He had to defend his reputation," Kyl said of Charlton. "So did the rest of them." At Schumer's insistence, McNulty went back to Capitol Hill Feb. 14, to meet privately with the Judiciary Committee and provide more information on each firing. But his carefully crafted responses — trying to give minimal information without disclosing much, left senators on both sides of the aisle either angry or frustrated, and according to those with knowledge of the meeting, only fanned the flames of the growing firestorm. A source close to McNulty said the deputy attorney general believes has Gonzales' full confidence. McNulty is "upset" with Sampson's preparation and believed he was not fully briefed on the creation of plan to fire the U.S. attorneys, the source. McNulty believes Sampson will have to explain that directly to senators when Sampson testifies Thursday, the source said.

* Related: E-mail Exchange About the Dismissals


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http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2983066&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[Canuckistanian]

1. Then RESIGN!

Show 'em you've still got a pair....

[Monkeyman]

2. It seems he lost those

[Canuckistanian]

4. When did he ever have any?

He's been Bush's boy since the Texas days.

[Erika]

3. Gonzales never realized he is an employee of the people

not W. He fired those who weren't fellow bushbots.