May 4, 2007, 9:20 am
Visual Tool at the Gonzales Hearing
By Lisa Agustin
During last month’s hearing on the U.S. Attorneys firing scandal, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales just couldn’t seem to produce the proof needed to convince the Senate Judiciary Committee that the dismissals were anything but politically motivated. In contrast, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) managed to put together some convincing evidence in the form of a chart detailing the protocol for contact between the Bush White House and the Department of Justice. According to Slate magazine’s Dahlia Lithwick:
One of the finest moments comes when Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of R.I., busts out a big, big chart. Which happens after almost everyone has gone home. The chart compares the Clinton protocol for appropriate contacts between the White House and the DoJ on pending criminal cases with the Bush protocol. According to Whitehouse, the Clinton protocol authorized just four folks at the White House to chat with three folks at Justice. The chart had four boxes talking to three boxes. Out comes the Bush protocol, and now 417 different people at the White House have contacts about pending criminal cases with 30-some people at Justice. You can just see zillions of small boxes nattering back and forth. It seems that just about everyone in the White House, including the guys in the mailroom, had a vote on ongoing criminal matters.
See Senator Whitehouse’s presentation of the chart on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iibnQfK-2ho
