Sunday, April 15, 2007

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales will face the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to explain his role in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys . Below, advice from those who've withstood the glare of Capitol Hill hearing room lights -- or at least prepped others to do so.

* * *

I did no preparation whatsoever for my Senate Watergate Committee testimony other than to write it out by hand and read it when it was typed to be sure it was correct before I submitted it. The truth speaks well for itself. However, I did make an effort to get a good night's sleep every night before I testified. Because I had worked on Capitol Hill and was only interested in telling the truth, I slept very well and did not have so much as a butterfly in my stomach before my appearances.

-- John W. Dean III, White House counsel to President Richard M. Nixon

It's most important to really know your subject and to show due deference to the members of the committee. You cannot possibly over-flatter members of Congress. I still remember one terrible mistake I made, as an assistant secretary of state, testifying before Rep. Lee Hamilton regarding the sale of M1 tanks to Saudi Arabia. He asked me how far it would be to Israel, as the crow flies, from where the tanks would be deployed. I thought that was the wrong way to look at it. So I said: "Congressman, tanks don't fly."

He blew a gasket. Mild-mannered Lee Hamilton just came out of his chair. So now I use that as a lesson in how to be deferential. I should have said: "I'll give you that number, Congressman, but please bear in mind that the roads are not straight and they have to go through mountain passes."

-- Richard A. Clarke, former White House counterterrorism official

I cross-examined Anita Hill with things that I knew were false to prepare her for the eventuality that the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee would ask the same questions. Before we began, I said, "For the next hour, I am your worst enemy and I'm proud to play that role."

-- Charles J. Ogletree Jr., Harvard law school professor, who served as lead counsel to Anita Hill

Personal stories are compelling every time. Clarence Thomas was the young man from Pinpoint, Ga. Bob Gates, the faceless bureaucrat trying to be CIA chief, became the guy who arrived in town with all his belongings in the back seat of a Mustang convertible. Have an answer for the one question you don't want to be asked because you will undoubtedly be asked that question. Also, it's very important to pause before you answer. Ask yourself where the senator is going on this question. How will your answer play in the hearing room, on TV, in the next morning's newspaper, on the Internet?

-- Kenneth M. Duberstein, chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan, who helped prepare

Justices David H. Souter, Anthony M. Kennedy and Thomas for confirmation hearings

To prepare for my hearing, we had a murder board, and that was mostly just shouting. People from the DOJ and the White House were just shouting to indicate what the hearing would be like. Nobody played the role of Sen. Ted Kennedy or others, but they did begin shouting questions such as, "Why are you against civil liberties?" I decided to go for more substantive preparation. I gathered five or six knowledgeable friends and we discussed various subjects around the dining room table. In the Gonzales hearing, there will be a lot of slogan shouting -- at the level of bumper-sticker discourse: "Why did you mislead us about your participation in the U.S. attorney firings?" They'll assume that he misled them deliberately.

How could the process be improved? Only by getting better senators.

-- Robert H. Bork, whose 1987 Supreme Court nomination was rejected, 58 to 42, by the Senate