Bush's Bubble Strikes Again

As Howard Kurtz writes in The Washington Post: "Savage said that although his reports spurred wide debate among opinion writers, other publications were slow in 'legitimizing it' with news coverage. 'There were some months there when it was kind of lonely,' he said."

Readers of this column know I was a big fan of Savage's reporting and frequently expressed dismay that other news outlets weren't pursuing the story. I summed up my dismay in a long story for NiemanWatchdog in June.

And in my August 2 column, I contrasted the lack of coverage by Washington's biggest newsrooms with the "outpouring of editorials at small- and medium-sized newspapers across the country," which I wrote indicated that "there may be something about violating the Constitution that riles up Americans no matter where they live or where they stand on the political spectrum."

Why didn't other newsrooms -- and the White Hous press corps -- take up the signing statement story and run with it? I still don't know. Maybe Savage's Pulitzer will be a wake-up call of sorts.

Gonzales Watch

David Johnston writes in the New York Times: "The former top aide to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales has told Congressional investigators that Mr. Gonzales was 'inaccurate,' or 'at least not complete' in asserting that he had no role in the deliberations about individual United States attorneys who were later dismissed, a Democratic senator said Monday.

"The statements by D. Kyle Sampson, the former chief of staff to Mr. Gonzales, during an interview with investigators on Sunday, were made public as the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a hearing that had been scheduled for Tuesday in which Mr. Gonzales was to appear to defend his actions in the dismissals. . . .

"In his interview, Mr. Sampson said under oath that Mr. Gonzales took part in discussions last fall about David C. Iglesias, who was removed as the United States attorney in New Mexico, as well as in a June 2006 meeting that addressed concerns about Carol C. Lam, the United States attorney ousted from her job in San Diego, said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York. . . .

"Mr. Gonzales said in an interview with NBC News on March 26 that he did not recall a White House meeting held in the fall. White House officials confirmed the meeting and that President Bush raised concerns at it about a lack of aggressive voter-fraud investigations in three states, including New Mexico."

But "Mr. Schumer said Monday that Mr. Sampson recalled that in early March, Mr. Gonzales had told him about the White House conversation."

Beyond Gonzales

Michael Isikoff writes for Newseek: "A glance at Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's prepared testimony for Tuesday's make-or-break hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee is a bit like a game of 'Where's Waldo.' Only in this case, the missing characters are President Bush, Karl Rove and the rest of the White House cast.

"Gonzales and his aides have spent the last two weeks polishing, and repolishing, his account of the sackings of eight U.S. attorneys. Gonzales says he has 'nothing to hide' and once again denies that any of the prosecutors were dismissed for any 'improper' reasons. But the final 24-page product, released by the Justice Department over the weekend, sheds little, if any, light on a topic that senators on the panel have made clear is central to their inquiry: the White House role in the decision to fire prosecutors."

Margaret Talev writes for McClatchy Newspapers: "New details emerging from Justice Department interviews and e-mails suggest that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and perhaps President Bush were more active than they've acknowledged in the firings last year of eight U.S. attorneys, lawmakers said Monday."