it seems sen. patrick leahy's august 16, 2007 letter precipitated gonzales' resignation

so -- even the wall street
journal is now crediting senator
patrick leahy with the timing of
alberto gonzales' departure as attorney
general -- the journal notes:

The Justice Department said Thursday
it is investigating whether resigning
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales lied
or otherwise misled Congress last month
in sworn testimony about the Bush
administration's domestic terrorist-spying program.

The inquiry, confirmed by Justice
Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine,
comes three days after Mr. Gonzales abruptly
announced he was stepping down despite
months of vowing he would remain on the job. . .

here is patrick leahy's reaction, today:

I am pleased that Department of Justice Inspector General Glenn Fine will look into my concerns about potentially false, misleading or inappropriate testimony by the Attorney General. I look forward to the Inspector General’s findings on the unprecedented firings of nine United States Attorneys, the improper political hiring of career officials within the Justice Department, the misuse of National Security Letters, and the efforts to bypass the Department’s finding that a warrantless surveillance program was without legal basis. These actions have eroded the public’s trust and undermined morale within our justice system, from the top ranks to the cop on the beat. The current Attorney General is leaving, but these questions remain. It is appropriate that the Inspector General will examine whether the Attorney General was honest with this and other Congressional committees about these crucial issues. His investigations can help restore independence and accountability, which have been sorely lacking at the Justice Department.

here is a link to senator leahy's
august 16, 2007 letter;
and o.i.g. inspector fine's appears below,
in dark red text. . .

August 30, 2007

The Honorable Patrick Leahy
Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Chairman Leahy:

This is in response to your letter to me, dated August 16, 2007, in which you requested that the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) investigate testimony provided by Attorney General Gonzales before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 24, 2007, and in previous hearings before the Judiciary Committee and other congressional committees. In particular, you identified five issues and asked that we investigate whether the statements made by the Attorney General were intentionally false, misleading, or inappropriate.

The OIG has ongoing investigations that relate to most of the subjects addressed by the Attomey General's testimony that you identified. In particular, the OIG is conducting a review relating to the terrorist surveillance program, as well as a follow-up revieW of the use of national security letters. In addition, the OIG is conducting a joint investigation with the Department's Office of Professional Responsibility into allegations regarding the removal of certain United States Attomeys and improper hiring practices.

We believe that through those investigations and other ola reviews we will be able to assess most of the issues that you raise in your letter.

Thank you for your letter and for your interest in our work. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

/s/ Glenn A. Fine

Inspector General

buckle up for post-labor-day fireworks -- even
though we all know that inspector general fine
will soft-pitch all of this -- it is important to
confirm that senator patrick leahy was able to
force alberto gonzales out -- lest his own take
him down, lie, by lie, by lie. . .

that will now likely first happen in front of
the senate judiciary committee, this fall. . .

gonzales will be very lucky to escape with
his law license intact. . . so, he may return to
being plain old citizen gonzales -- or, maybe even. . .
wait for it. . . prisoner gonzales?

i dunno -- not likely, given the
scooter libby experience. . . but
here's hopin', just the same. . .