Right now, Alberto Gonzales is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the firing of 8 US Attorneys. And what a difference. The last time I heard him testify about potential serious wrongdoing was before the election; the chair of the committee basically said “oh, we can trust him, we don’t need to swear him in” (and didn’t), the Republicans on the committee basically used their time to make speeches about Gonzales’ probity and judgement, and anyone who asked hard questions got evasive – and I suspect, outright false – answers.
Now? He was sworn in immediately and without discussion, and Sen. Leahy started asking him detailed, factual questions (“when did you have this conversation?” “on dates X and Y you publicly stated your absolute faith in [US Attorney] Iglesias; on date Z you stated that you dismissed him because you had lost faith in him. When and why did you lose faith in him?”). And Gonzales was on the ropes from question 1.
We’ll see what comes out of this. But it’s damned good to see our Congress taking their oversight role seriously.
Yonatan Zunger’s Blog 