Identity Theft? Gonzales Might Know Something About That

Gonzales declared the matter over. "I'm focused on making sure our kids are safe, making sure our neighborhoods are safe, making sure consumers are safe," he said.

Lara Jakes Jordan of the Associated Press got right to the point. "How long do you plan on staying?"

"I will stay as long as I feel I can be effective," Gonzales answered. He switched to the passive voice to reference "mistakes that have been made" but said he is moving on. "I can't just be focused on the U.S. attorney situation," he said. "I've also got to be focused on what's really important for the American people."

It was a textbook "move along, nothing to see here" response, but James Gordon Meek of the New York Daily News wouldn't heed that advice: "You've lost the confidence of a lot of the people on Capitol Hill. Virtually nobody has defended you; at the Department of Justice, morale, by all accounts, is plummeting."

The corners of Gonzales's lips quivered, and he shook his head in objection. "As long as I think that I can be effective, and the president believes that I should continue to be at the head of the Department of Justice, I'll continue serving as the attorney general," he said.

A questioner gave Gonzales a brief rest with a query about gun control, and a man from Privacy Times offered him a question about identity theft. "Good," Gonzales said. "Thank you."

But the reprieve was temporary. "Back to the Topic A," said CBS's Stephanie Lambidakis, who asked whether Gonzales could still be effective in a demoralized Justice Department. He said he has worked through it by "speaking directly to U.S. attorneys, by speaking directly to the component heads." He did not say how the "component heads" responded.

Gonzales's Q&A session was six minutes old. "We'll take one more question," announced Justice spokesman Brian Roehrkasse. The attorney general picked a questioner standing in a different part of the room, but the result was the same: a reporter from Congressional Quarterly asking him how he could do his job without cooperation from Congress.

"I have an obligation to work with Congress, and I will continue to work with Congress," he answered.

Meek, unable to resist a final tweak, asked Gonzales if he thought he was treated unfairly. This required him to atone for his sins for the fourth time in eight minutes: "I've already . . . indicated that I have made mistakes, and I accept responsibility for that."

Now can he have his good name back?