I know it's popular sport among many to bet on the date of Abu's impending termination as AG, but I'm with Glenn Greenwald — his departure leaves Commander Codpice and his Lost Planet Henchmen with nobody at the Justice Department who will shield them from criminal investigation, and in a crowd notable for its rampant Yellow Elephantism everybody will want to be Sammy the Bull.  Abu will never leave voluntarily and Bush will never fire him, they'll clench each other as tightly as Dick Cheney's gout hugs his garters.
 
 
There is a clear and unmistakable pattern here of improper political interference with prosecutorial decision-making. Gonzales has allowed the DOJ to be used as a political arm of the White House. He has allowed federal prosecutors to be intimidated, bullied, and even fired for refusing to cast aside their independent prosecutorial judgment, for refusing to engage in meritless partisan witch hunts or choosing to pursue meritorious prosecutions against Republican officials. That is entirely unacceptable in a free society, and it is grounds for impeachment.

Lest there be any doubt about that, I suggest reading this post by Marty Lederman which discusses Gonzales secret order delegating enormous discretion over the hiring and firing of DOJ personnel to Kyle Sampson and Monica Goodling. In short, Gonzales publicly revoked the authority that had traditionally belonged to the Deputy Attorney General and Associate Attorney General and, at least publicly, reclaimed that authority for himself. He then issued a secret follow up order re-delegating that same authority to Sampson and Goodling. This second order was apparently so secret that even the Deputy Attorney General, the person who used to have this authority, was not informed of it.

I know it's the second time I've used this today, but James Comey's statement to US News confirms that he was none too happy about this naked power grab on Abu's part:
Soon after Gonzales became attorney general, his then chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, told Comey that Gonzales's "vision" was to merge the deputy's office with Gonzales's own office. That meant that Comey would have lost some of his autonomy, becoming less of a leader and more of a senior staff member. A source close to Sampson says he merely wanted Gonzales and Comey to operate as a "seamless leadership team," with "harmony rather than conflict," and never meant to "degrade the status or authority" of the deputy. Comey didn't buy it. "You may want to try that with the next deputy attorney general," Comey is said to have responded to Sampson. "But it's not going to work with me."

When Comey testified before Linda Sanchez's committee he said something to the effect that it's going to be damned hard to unshit the bed and return the Department of Justice to some semblance of independence and non-partisanship.  Getting rid of Gonzales, who has no regard for either the truth nor the rule of law, is imperative and letting the administration drag this out by stonewalling for the rest of Bush's term of office is simply not acceptable.

Brave New Films and DFA are joining together to produce the above YouTube and push for impeaching Gonzales. You can find more info at impeachgonzales.org.
 

Related posts:

  1. Fredo Talks! Gonzales Advocates for an Independent AG
  2. Does Obama Policy Allow Politicized Contact Between White House and Justice?
  3. Cheney’s and Gonzales’ CYA Libraries
  4. Fredo Redo: AGAG Doesn’t Recall What He Said Monday
  5. Gonzales and Bush Haven’t Spoken