black…MYstory

Somehow, I think that Alberto Gonzalez wishes he could get his testimony over with as soon as possible because it seems that the longer this drags out, the more time there is for the inconsistencies in his previous testimony to be revealed.

From early on, Gonzalez has denied any involvement in identifying the eight U.S. attorneys that were fired. Now, recently-released emails are contradicting his testimony.

Here’s a excerpt from the ABC News Exclusive:

The e-mail, which came from Gonzales aide Kyle Sampson, appeared to contradict the prepared written testimony Gonzales submitted to Congress over the weekend in advance of his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday. In his prepared testimony, Gonzales said that during the months that his senior staff was evaluating U.S. attorneys, including Lam, “I did not make the decisions about who should or should not be asked to resign.”

But the recently released e-mail from Sampson, dated June 1, 2006, indicated that Gonzales was actively involved in discussions about Lam and had decided to fire her if she did not improve. In the e-mail to other top Justice Department officials, Sampson outlined several steps that Gonzales suggested, culminating in Lam’s replacement if she failed to bolster immigration enforcement.

“AG [Attorney General] has given additional thought to the San Diego situation and now believes that we should adopt a plan” that would lead to her removal if she “balks” at immigration reform, Sampson wrote.

The e-mail laid out other possible ways to deal with Lam short of dismissal. Gonzales supported the idea of first having “a heart to heart with Lam about the urgent need to improve immigration enforcement” and of working with her “to develop a plan for addressing the problem.” Sampson said another alternative would be to “put her on a very short leash.

“If she balks on any of the foregoing or otherwise does not perform in a measurable way … remove her,” Sampson wrote of Gonzales’ suggested plan. “AG then appoints new U.S. [attorney] from outside the office.”

Hmm…could this be one of the reasons that 5,000,000 White House emails have gone “missing” — the need to get rid of evidence?

I imagine that Thursday could be a hot one for Attorney General Gonzalez.

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