May 15, 2007
Gonzales Points Finger At Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty
What are ‘friends’ for? If you work for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and he calls you his ‘friend,’ you could end up being a scapegoat and fall guy for a huge political and legally embaressing mess at the Justice Department.
That’s what happened to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty when he announced his resignation yesterday.
Yesterday Gonzales praised McNulty, saying he was “valued here at the Department…as both a colleague and a friend.”
Today Gonzales stabbed McNulty in the back by telling a gaggle of reporters at the National Press Club that McNulty bore responsibility for the firing of U.S. Attorneys in what has become a politcal and legal entanglement of the highest proportions.
“At the end of the day,” Gonzales told reporters, “the recommendationon [on which U.S. Attorneys should be fired and lose their jobs] reflected the views of the Deupty Attorney General. He signed off on the names. He would know better than anyone else, anyone in this room. Anyone. Again, the Deputy Attorney General would know best about the qualification and experiences of the United States Attorney community, and he signed off on the names.”
One day after you tell your boss that you’re leaving, and he sings your praises, you end up being the fall guy for his mistakes.
Gee, with friends like that….
[…] Counsel to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and DOJ Liaison to the White House. Following in Gonzales’ footsteps, Goodling alleges that soon-to-be resigning Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty should be blamed […]