Gonzo Must Go!

What in the world is happening here?!

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who previously stated that he "was not involved in any discussions" regarding the firings of US Federal Attorneys, did just that. "Documents released on Friday [March 23] showed Gonzales attended a November 27 meeting to discuss a plan to remove the U.S. attorneys, who were fired 10 days later."

Of course, Chimpy reaffirmed his support for Gonzo, which doesn't bode well if you care to remember The Decider's support of Donald Rumsfeld.

Then Gonzo went on NBC to try and set the record straight when he said this:

GONZALES: "Let me try to be more precise about my involvement. When I said on March 13th that I wasn't involved, what I meant was that I had not been involved - was not involved - in the deliberations over whether or not United States Attorneys should resign... I had Kyle Sampson coordinate a performance review of the Dept. of US Attorneys... I was never focused on specific concerns about the US Attorneys as to whether or not they should be asked to resign... I depended on the people who knew about how these US Attorneys were performing... "

PETE WILLIAMS: "Given that, then how can you be certain that none of these US Attorneys were not put on the list for improper reasons?"

AG: "What I can say is this: I know the reason why I asked these US Attorneys to leave. And it was not for improper reasons... but just to be sure, I have asked for an internal review by the Office of Professional Responsibility working with the office of the Inspector General and of course the Congress is going to be doing it's own review because I want to know as well, if in fact there were improper reasons, we should know about it and there will be accountability."

WHAT?! So he knows the reason he fired the attorneys and it was NOT improper, but he's having reviews done to find out if it WAS improper. This guy is either completely incompetent or trying to wriggle out of a legal straight jacket. Here's more!

PW: "To put this question another way, if you didn't review their performance during this process then how can you be certain that they were fired for performance reasons?"

AG: "I -I - I've given - I've given the answer to the question, Pete. I know the reasons why I made the decision. Again, there's nothing in the documents to support the allegation that there was anything improper here..."

So now Sampson is being set up as the fall guy. Or perhaps it could be Monica Goodling, Gonzales' senior counsel and White House liaison, who "will refuse to answer questions at upcoming Senate hearings, citing Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination."

Well that doesn't sound good. Is she looking for immunity to then testify? The potential for taking the blame for the department's bungled response "is very real," [her attorney John]Dowd said. "One need look no further than the recent circumstances and proceedings involving Lewis Libby," he said, a reference to the recent conviction of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff in the CIA leak case.

Watch the Gonzo/NBC Interview here.