The Grand Elusion  —  Attorney General Alberto Gonzales faced the cameras for all of nine minutes yesterday, but he managed to contradict himself at least four times as he fought off calls to resign over the firing of U.S. attorneys.  —  "Mistakes were made," he said in fluent scandalese, but "I think it was the right decision."

'Loyalty' to Bush and Gonzales Was Factor in Prosecutors' Firings, E-Mail Shows  —  Late in the afternoon on Dec. 4, a deputy to Harriet E. Miers, then the White House counsel and one of President Bush's most trusted aides, sent a two-line e-mail message to a top Justice Department aide.

Emails detail plans for firing U.S. attorneys  —  WASHINGTON - Deflecting calls to resign, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales acknowledged Tuesday that he mishandled the firings of eight U.S. attorneys as new details emerged about the Bush administration's efforts to oust prosecutors who had fallen out of favor.

Gonzales rejects calls for resignation  —  WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales rejected growing calls for his resignation Tuesday as scores of newly released documents detailed a two-year campaign by the Justice Department and White House to purge federal prosecutors.

GOP leader confirms he called U.S. attorney about governor's race  —  WASHINGTON - A former chairman of the Washington state Republican Party said Tuesday he talked with the GOP-appointed U.S. attorney in Seattle during the agonizing recounts in the 2004 governor's race.

Alberto Gonzales: A Willing Accessory at Justice  —  Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales is the 80th attorney general of the United States and if recent events in the law and at the Justice Department are any indication, he is rapidly staking a claim to being among the worst.

Politics, Pure and Cynical  —  We wish we'd been surprised to learn that the White House was deeply involved in the politically motivated firing of eight United States attorneys, but the news had the unmistakable whiff of inevitability.  This disaster is just part of the Bush administration's sordid history …

'Mistakes' Made on Prosecutors, Gonzales Says  —  Under criticism from lawmakers of both parties for the dismissals of federal prosecutors, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales insisted Tuesday that he would not resign but said, "I acknowledge that mistakes were made here."

Where Credit Is Due  —  Twelve days ago, after David Iglesias went public, I said that if there turned out to be a broad conspiracy behind the firing of the U.S. Attorneys, "I will take my hat off to Marshall and others in the blogosphere and congratulate them for having been right …

House Leadership Won't Go To the Mat Over Iraq Bill  —  Via Skeptic06's diary on the subject, this really pisses me off: … Bulls**t.  The House leadership quite decidedly whipped the progressive caucus on the Iraq bill less than a week ago: … Why are they letting them off the leash now?