In advance of today’s Gonzales hearing, ABC News had flagged a contradiction in his prepared testimony and the recently released emails:
Gonzales said that during the months that his senior staff was evaluating U.S. attorneys, including [Carol] Lam, “I did not make the decisions about who should or should not be asked to resign.”
But the recently released e-mail from [now-former Justice Dept. chief of staff Kyle] Sampson, dated June 1, 2006, indicated that Gonzales was actively involved in discussions about Lam and had decided to fire her if she did not improve.
How did Gonzales try to dance around this?
Under questioning from Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., Gonzales said his discussion about Lam with Sampson, was somehow separate from the broader Prosecutor Purge process that he says he put in Sampson’s hands and maintained “limited” involvement — even though Lam, of course, got purged.
Laughable on its face.
