Welcome to Gonzales Watch - Blawging the Ex-Attorney General

In a calculated move, Pres. Bush used his weekly Radio address to slam critics of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales regarding his Administration’s highly politicized firing of eight U.S. Attorneys.

The Radio Address has Bush taking a shot at critics of these firings, reminding Americans that he is control of their jobs — “U.S. Attorneys are appointed by the President” — lest we forget.

Remember Alexander Haig? Pres. Bush has a serious fear of losing control over his presidency, and loathes members of Congress who would seek to have Administration officials testify publicly, under oath to explain to the American people why the Gonzales appears have been caught in a pack of lies.

The real fear, however, is that if Gonzales, Karl Rove, ex-White House Counsel Harriet Miers, and other White House and Justice Department officials were to testify under oath, there is a potential for them to be charged with lying under oath - a crime punishable by up to 5 years in jail.

That is the apparent reason that White House Counsel Fred Fielding has refused to let White House aides publicly testify under oath before Congress and the American public. To prevent an opportunity for contradictions and false testimony.

But according to Pres. Bush, the refusal to let his aides testify under oath has only to do with Congress’ unreasonable requests that White House staff should give sworn testimony:

my Administration presented to Congress a reasonable way forward that balances the constitutional prerogatives of the Presidency with Congress’s interest in learning more facts behind the decision to replace eight of the 93 U.S. Attorneys.

Members of Congress now face a choice: whether they will waste time and provoke an unnecessary confrontation, or whether they will join us in working to do the people’s business

If any testimony under oath from White House and Justice Department officials is ultimately compared to the correspondence currently being reviewed by the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, the chances seem quite high that Administration officials would be put in a position to contradict themselves. In order not to lie under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, it would not be a surprise if White House staff were to ‘take the Fifth’ and refuse to testify in order to avoid the chance of prosecution.

Technorati: Alberto Gonzales, U.S. Attorney FiringsSenate Judiciary Committee, George Bush, Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, , Perjury