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Gonzales Kills McNulty's Credibility on McNulty's Way Out the Door

Yesterday, when Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty resigned, Alberto Gonzales had nothing but nice things to say about his top assistant. Gonzo called McNulty a "dynamic and thoughtful leader" and said McNulty is "an outstanding public servant and a fine attorney who has been valued here at the Department... On behalf of the Department, I wish him well in his future endeavors."

Wrong! Today, Gonzales threw McNulty under a bus in a big way. Speaking at the National Press Club, Gonzales said this morning, "You have to remember, at the end of the day, the recommendations reflected the views of the deputy attorney general. He signed off on the names... And he would know better than anyone else, anyone in this room, anyone — again, the deputy attorney general would know best about the qualifications and the experiences of the United States attorneys community, and he signed off on the names."

Good luck finding employment, Paul! Go ahead and put "Fall Guy for Major DOJ Embarrassment" at the top of your resume.

Washington can be so vicious, can't it?

Comments

Doesnt anyone see that this is the final piece in the puzzle?

First Gonzo says that he trusted "senior DOJ officals" to work with his Assistant Sampson to create a list. Then he says it was Sampson's job to make sure everyone was ok on who got fired. Now by blaming it all on McNulty the AG can say it was his call and he had nothing to do with it.

Of course any rational person asks the right question which is why would the AG be so uninvolved in the process of firing 10% of the people directly under his control.

The White House hopes McNulty will take the scandal with him, wrong the emails show he didnt have the clout to run this whole thing himself.

ben

Posted by: Ben on 05/15/07 at 9:49 AM