By Kenneth J. Theisen, 6/13/07
“It is the sense of the Senate that Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales no longer holds the confidence of the Senate and of the American
people.” In a 53-38 vote, (7 Republicans joined the Democrats in the vote)
the Senate on Monday, June 12th refused to advance this mild resolution
concerning the chief U.S.
law enforcer. Even though a majority of
Senators supported the resolution, the vote failed to garner the required 60
votes which would have required a full Senate debate. But Gonzales is far from
out of hot water. Further Congressional hearings, subpoenas, and a Department
of Justice investigation still await the Attorney General and the Bush regime.
While Congress does not have the power to fire the Attorney
General, the vote was intended to put pressure on the Attorney General and the
President. But Gonzales refuses to step
aside and Bush continues to reiterate his support of his embattled friend and
long-time legal adviser who has repeatedly provided legal justification for the
regime’s many crimes.
Bush stated, “They can have their votes of no
confidence, but it’s not going to make the determination about who serves in my
government. This process has been drug out a long time. It’s political.”
Gonzales claimed, “I am focused on the next 18 months and sprinting to the
finish line.” Both Bush and Gonzales have made it perfectly clear they
will not halt the Bush regime’s fascist program as long as they remain in
power. Their finish line is disaster for the people of the world and in 18
months they can do untold damage.
But with the unfolding of the Attorney firings” scandal, Gonzales”
political capital within ruling circles continues to erode. With this vote, two
more Republicans have joined the previous five who have vocally called for his
ouster. Senator Arlen Specter was one of the seven Republicans that voted to
advance the resolution. “There is no confidence in the attorney general on
this side of the aisle,” he said. Senator Susan Collins also stated,
“I think his continued tenure does not benefit the department or our
country.” Presidential candidate Senator John McCain did not vote on the
resolution even though he has previously called for the Attorney General to
resign.
Even those who voted against the resolution did not exactly
do so with enthusiasm. Senator George
Voinovich in justifying his vote against the resolution stated, “If I were
president, I would have asked Alberto Gonzales to resign as attorney general.
Today’s vote does nothing to rectify the current problem or ensure it doesn’t
happen again.”
In related developments, subpoenas were issued on Wednesday,
June 13, 2007 for former presidential counsel Harriet Miers and political
director Sara Taylor to testify before Congress about their roles in the U.S.
Attorney’s firing scandal. Could this be a prelude to compelling Karl Rove,
Bush’s chief political advisor, to testify as well? According to House Judiciary Committee
Chairman John Conyers, “The bread crumbs in this investigation have always
led to 1600 Pennsylvania.
This investigation will not end until the White House complies with the demands
of this subpoena in a timely and reasonable manner so that we may get to the
bottom of this.”
Taylor
is to testify July 11 and Miers on July 12th.
Further White House documents were also subpoenaed. It is not clear
whether the Bush regime will refuse to honor the subpoenas or not at this
time. The regime in the past has claimed
executive privilege and other spurious legal arguments to keep members of the
regime from having to testify under oath. Previously the White House offered a
compromise by suggesting that Miers, Taylor, Rove and their deputies be
interviewed by Congressional aides in closed-door sessions, without transcripts
and not under oath, but Congress rejected this compromise offer. Documents
already released by the regime revealed that Taylor, Miers and Rove, as well as other
White House aides, were intimately involved in the decisions to fire the U.S.
Prosecutors. If the White House stonewalls the subpoenas it could result in a constitutional
showdown between Congress and the White House.
We will continue to follow the travails of the Attorney
General and the firing scandal as they develop.