The Gonzales Clown Show

"Expressing annoyance, Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the committee, pressed Mr. Gonzales about whether he had, as he has previously said, approved the dismissals sometime late last year.

"'Well, how can you be sure you made the decision?' Mr. Leahy asked.

"'Senator, I recall making the decision from this -- I recall making the decision,' Mr. Gonzales replied.

"'When?' Mr. Leahy responded.

"'Senator,' Mr. Gonzales replied. 'I don't recall when the decision was made.' . . .

"At the end of the hearing, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the ranking Republican on the panel, said, 'I think we have gone about as far as we can go,' adding, 'We have not gotten really answers.'"

Dana Milbank writes in The Washington Post: "The hearing was billed as Gonzales's chance to explain the contradictions, omissions and falsehoods in his response to the firings. But instead of contrition, the attorney general treated the committee to a mixture of arrogance, combativeness and amnesia. Even his would-be defenders on the Republican side were appalled. . . .

"Explaining his role in the botched firing of federal prosecutors, Gonzales uttered the phrase 'I don't recall' and its variants ('I have no recollection,' 'I have no memory') 64 times. . . .

"For much of the very long day, the attorney general responded like a child caught in a lie. He shifted his feet under the table, balled his hands into fists and occasionally pointed at his questioners. He defended his actions: 'The decision stands.' He denied responsibility: 'This was a process that was ongoing that I did not have transparency into.' He blamed the victims: 'Poor judgment . . . poor management.' He blamed his subordinates: 'When there are attacks against the department, you're attacking the career professionals.'

"Mostly, though, he retreated to memory loss."

Ron Hutcheson, Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor write for McClatchy Newspapers: "Both sides had weeks to prepare for the Senate showdown, but the question-and-answer session produced little new information about the reasons behind the firings or any White House involvement. . . .

"Gonzales was particularly vague about the extent of White House involvement in the firings and who came up with the idea of a prosecutor purge. 'There are clearly some things I don't know about what happened, and it's frustrating to me, as head of the department, to not know that still today,' he said. 'I think that was my plan.'"