<p>Don’t think that the folk on Capitol Hill haven’t figured that out. Leahy, Conyers, and Waxman are going to make things interesting for the White House with subpoenas. Should be a lot of executive priviledge and obstruction of justice stuff flying back and forth over the testimony of White House officials and the production of White House and RNC documents.</p>
<p>The White House can “win” in terms of stonewalling investigations, but the more they do that the worse they look to the American public. I think their Republican support on the Hill will erode quickly as the rats try to disembark the ship. I wouldn’t want my re-election chances tied too closely with the administration.</p>
<p>Let’s put it this way, I would not want Arlen Spector on my bad side.</p>
<p>Reporter: But did the president actually see the testimony? </p>
<p>Perino: He got regular updates from us while we were on the road. We were on the road that day on the way to Ohio. </p>
<p>Reporter: Can you say he has increased confidence if he got updates from other people – he didn’t actually see the testimony himself … </p>
<p>Perino: I think he got updates from it. And I think he saw some news coverage of it later that day. </p>
<p>Reporter: But, as Jim noted, I mean, Arlen Specter yesterday said that it was “very, very damaging to [Gonzales’] own credibility.” So what did the president see – he didn’t see the testimony. But what did he hear … </p>
<p>Perino: What the president knows is that the attorney general was – answered honestly, truthfully and was as responsive to Congress as he could possibly be during hours of testimony, and in turning over all the documents and in making people that work for him available to the Congress in order to answer their questions. </p>
<p>Asked a bit later whether Bush expects Gonzales to stay on through the end of his term, Perino said, “The president hopes so.” </p>
<p>Ordinarily, I eschew high-profile political theater. But I think the time has come to discuss, along with cabbages and kings, impeachment of Gonzalez. If he won’t resign and Bush won’t fire him, then I think impeachment is a valid response. Even with only 17 months left in the administration. I suspect the votes to impeach are there. Don’t know about the votes to convict but it’s worth trying. And in a detached macabre sort of way, it would be interesting to watch how many Republican House & Senate members decide that Fredo’s ship is worth going down with.</p>
<p>Just a little side note to Gonzo and the U.S. Attorneys and with his ass’t Monica Goodling being called to testify:</p>
<p>Ms. Goodling is a graduate of Regent University School of Law, founded just 20 years ago by televangelist Pat Robertson to provide “Christian leadership to change the world”.</p>
<p>Regent has had no better friend than the Bush administration during its relatively short existance. Graduates of the law school include more than 150 alumni hired to federal government positions since President Bush took office in 2001, according to a university website.</p>
<p>Documents show that Goodling, who originally asserted her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid testifying before Congress and who apparently has now been offered immunity to testify, was one of a handful of officials overseeing the firings. She helped install Timothy Griffin , the Karl Rove aide and her former boss at the Republican National Committee, as a replacement US attorney in Arkansas.</p>
<p>Because Goodling graduated from Regent in 1999 and has scant prosecutorial experience, her qualifications to evaluate the performance of US attorneys have come under fire. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, asked at a hearing: “Should we be concerned with the experience level of the people who are making these highly significant decisions?”</p>
<p>And critics in general have held up Goodling as a prime example of the Bush administration subordinating ability to politics (Bush loyalty) in their hiring decisions.</p>
<p>“It used to be that high-level DOJ jobs were generally reserved for the best of the legal profession,” wrote a contributor to The New Republic website . “. . . That a recent graduate of one of the very worst (and sketchiest) law schools with virtually no relevant experience could ascend to this position is a sure sign that there is something seriously wrong at the DOJ.”</p>
<p>The Regent law school was founded in 1986, when Oral Roberts University shut down its ailing law school and sent its library to Robertson’s Bible-based college in Virginia. </p>