But, as I've said earlier here at TPM, we should not let the impact of the exposure of the AG's falsehoods and attempted coverups to deflect our attention from what these facts mean. A wealth of circumstantial evidence points to the conclusion that Carol Lam was fired because her corruption investigation endangered Republican members of Congress and key administration officials. The DOJ and White House has sought to refute these claims with the suggestion that she was dismissed because of weak immigration enforcement. The fact that no one at the Department ever raised the issue with Lam points strongly to the conclusion that the 'immigration enforcement' line was developed as a cover to fire Lam for other reasons -- namely to disrupt her investigation.
Indeed, the fact that Gonzales felt the need to fib on this point testifies to how central such a fact would be to making his story credible.
This is the central issue in the Lam firing. It's central to the corruption Alberto Gonzales has brought to the Department of Justice.
Right, Boss! I'm your friend, right? Anything you say, Boss! Torture? You got it! Unitary executive? Yup! Signing statements? Sure! Iraq war? Legal! What else you want, Boss? All lawyers to be loyal Bushies? No problem! Just don't let me swing for it.....
Update: Josh Marshall:
In almost every case, what we're talking about here is Gonzales's willingness to take orders from the White House -- most importantly from Karl Rove and President Bush -- on firing US Attorneys for corrupt purposes and using the Justice Department to suppress Democratic turnout in swing states. Mr. Gonzales is a secondary issue. The real players are in the White House.
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