Welcome to Gonzales Watch - Blawging the Ex-Attorney General

Christian Science Monitor reporter Peter Grier suggests in tomorrow’s paper that, contrary to many pundits, the fact that Gonzales has remained in office may be a good tactical move for President Bush and his administration.

By remaining Attorney General and taking heat for the Justice Department’s U.S. Attorney firings debacle, “he remains a focus for criticism that might otherwise be directed elsewhere.” That criticism includes e-mails suggesting that White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers played roles in helping selecting the U.S. Attorneys who they believed should be fired.

Grier also posits that if Gonzales were to resign from his job as the country’s top prosecutor, Bush would face an uphill battle in a Democratically controlled Congress getting a new U.S. Attorney nominee confirmed before the U.S. Senate.