Republicans Detect “Cloud” Over Gonzales
By John Nichols 

What do the following statements about Attorney General Alberto Gonzales — the embattled presidential appointee at the center of a growing scandal over the firing of U.S. Attorneys who refused to politicize their prosecutions –have in common?

1. “The Justice Department has bungled this attorney thing. There’s no question about it. There’s no excuse for it.”

2. [You] cannot have the nation’s chief law enforcement officer with a cloud hanging over his credibility.”

3. “The Attorney General has been wounded because of his performance, not because of politics … He has said some things that don’t add up.”

4. “If we find out he’s not been candid and truthful, that’s a very compelling reason for him not to stay on.”

Answer: They were all made over the weekend by Republican members of the U.S. Senate; Utah’s Orrin Hatch, Nebraska’s Chuck Hagel, South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham and Pennsylvania’s Arlen Specter, respectively.

Specter, it should be noted, is the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Hatch is a former chairman of the committee and Graham serves on its Administrative Oversight subcommittee. Hagel sits on the powerful Rules Committee and remains a GOP presidential prospect.

For the rest of the story, click here.