Gonzales Studies For Congressional Hearings

Alberto Gonzales is an embarrassment even by Bush administration standards. He makes Donald Rumsfeld look good.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has virtually wiped his public schedule clean to bone up for his long-awaited April 17 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee—a session widely seen as a crucial test as to whether he will survive the U.S. attorney mess. But even his own closest advisers are nervous about whether he is up to the task. At a recent "prep" for a prospective Sunday talk-show interview, Gonzales's performance was so poor that top aides scrapped any live appearances. During the March 23 session in the A.G.'s conference room, Gonzales was grilled by a team of top aides and advisers—including former Republican National Committee chair Ed Gillespie and former White House lawyer Tim Flanigan—about what he knew about the plan to fire seven U.S. attorneys last fall. But Gonzales kept contradicting himself and "getting his timeline confused," said one participant who asked not to be identified talking about a private meeting. His advisers finally got "exasperated" with him, the source added. "He's not ready," Tasia Scolinos, Gonzales's public-affairs chief, told the A.G.'s top aides after the session was over, said the source. Asked for comment, Scolinos told NEWSWEEK: "This was the first session of this kind that we'd done."

Kevin Drum suggested that if Gonzales told the truth he wouldn't have this problem. Even if Gonzales told the truth he would need his aides to tell him what to do. The Michael Isikoff article reports Gonzales is lost without Kyle Sampson and Paul McNulty telling him what to say. The White House had to bring in David Addington from Cheney's office to hold Gonzales's hand. I have less faith in Gonzales's abilities than Drum. Which his properly isn't much.

This is the man President Bush picked to be his personal consigliere. The blind leading the deaf.