Newsweek: Gonzales can't keep Attorneys story straight

Newsweek: Gonzales can't keep Attorneys story straight

Michael Roston Published: Monday April 9, 2007

An article appearing in this week's edition of Newsweek suggests that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is struggling in preparatory sessions for his appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

Michael Isikoff in Newsweek's Periscope column this week says that Gonzales performed poorly in initial preparation sessions for his testimony.

"Gonzales kept contradicting himself and 'getting his timeline confused,' said one participant who asked not to be identified," Isikoff reports.

He also notes, "His advisers finally got 'exasperated' with him, the source added."

Justice Department staff were nervous according to Isikoff, and had canceled all public appearances scheduled for this week.

Isikoff also describes Gonzales as increasingly isolated.

"'The department is in a state of paralysis,'" said one "frustrated senior administration official."

Gonzales is not allowed to talk to many of his key advisers on how to proceed on the US Attorneys investigations because they are part of the Justice Department's probe.

"Any consultation could be viewed as an attempt to 'coordinate' their stories," Isikoff notes.

Still, Isikoff presents no suggestion that Gonzales will resign.

"Gonzales is likely to start out next week's hearing with a more expansive mea culpa," he writes.

The full item can be accessed at this link.