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<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=5>Hearing Problem<BR></FONT>What will it take for the
president to lose faith in Alberto Gonzales?<BR></STRONG>
<P><FONT size=-1>Tuesday, April 24, 2007; A20<BR></FONT></P>
<P></P>
<P>ATTORNEY GENERAL Alberto R. Gonzales's testimony last week before the Senate
Judiciary Committee about the dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys "increased my
confidence in his ability to do the job," President Bush said yesterday. Maybe
that's because he didn't actually watch the testimony -- he was on the road that
day.</P>
<P>In fact, Mr. Gonzales's testimony was anything but reassuring about his
capacity to lead the department. He emerged, once again, as a negligent manager,
scarcely aware of the major personnel moves his department was about to make in
the president's name.</P>
<P>"I now understand that there was a conversation between myself and the
president," Mr. Gonzales said at one point, acknowledging that he had discussed
New Mexico U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias with Mr. Bush, though he didn't
actually remember doing so. Is this really what Mr. Bush wants in the nation's
chief law enforcement officer?</P>
<P>Another question: The president had acknowledged that Mr. Gonzales had work
to do to repair his credibility with lawmakers. Does it not matter that he
failed to do so?</P>
<P>We're not talking about Democrats who were never going to be mollified, but
Republicans, and not just mavericks in the party, who are fed up with Mr.
Gonzales. "The attorney general's testimony was very, very damaging to his own
credibility. It has been damaging to the administration," Sen. Arlen Specter
(Pa.), the committee's ranking Republican, said on "Fox News Sunday." At some
point, the president has to take that into account.</P>
<P>In the meantime, the focus on Mr. Gonzales is obscuring the need for more
information about the firings, especially of Mr. Iglesias, including evidence
from the White House officials involved. Mr. Specter has proposed a reasonable
accommodation to obtain White House testimony, starting with closed-door, but
transcribed, hearings.</P>
<P>The White House has been sticking to its unacceptable, take-it-or-leave-it
offer of one-time, closed-door conversations without transcripts. "I think the
ball is still in the Democrats' court; they haven't decided whether or not to
take us up on our offer," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said yesterday.
Democrats are in control of Congress, and they have subpoena power. The
administration's intransigence could leave it with a worse outcome than if it
showed some willingness, even belatedly, to negotiate.</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>