Defense Articles

Few moments in Bush’s presidency have tested the limits of loyalty more acutely than this one. For six years, the president has largely stood by those who have stood by him and has rarely given in to pressure to toss allies aside when they have come under fire. When he has, he has often resisted so long that the damage had already been done — pulling the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet E. Miers only after weeks of all-out conservative revolt and firing then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld only after a decisive midterm election defeat.
Bush has been more willing to part ways with those he has viewed as less than fully devoted to him and his agenda, most prominently then- Secretary of State Colin L. Powell . Critics believe this fixation on loyalty has left the president isolated from dissent and surrounded by ideological yes men, but it has also given him a team that has remained unusually cohesive through adversity, at least until recently, as more former insiders have spoken out critically.

“In his mind, loyalty works both ways. It’s a two-way street,” said Scott McClellan, the former White House press secretary who followed Bush from Texas . “Particularly those who have been with him a long time, the Texans, he’s developed more than a professional relationship; it’s a friendship.”

That seems especially true with Gonzales, a Bush confidant for a dozen years. Bush calls him “Fredo” and has given him five jobs over the years. The two have spent weekends together with their wives at Camp David. “It makes it tough for the president — and less likely that the president’s going to want to do anything to push him out,” said Charles Black, a GOP lobbyist close to the White House.

Bush does not think Gonzales did anything wrong in dismissing the prosecutors, according to aides, but has been aggravated by his friend’s clumsy, shifting explanations of what happened. In effect, advisers said, Bush is giving Gonzales a chance to fix the situation today.

What happens if he does not remains unclear. No one in the White House believes Gonzales can say anything that would get Democrats to drop the matter, but his supporters hope he can be confident and consistent enough to explain his role without providing more ammunition for critics. Should he stumble, some Republicans said, Gonzales has a responsibility to fall on his sword, sparing Bush having to ask.

“The president’s loyalty is the only explanation for the attorney general’s continued service,” said Mark Corallo, a former Bush Justice Department spokesman. “The attorney general’s not a bad person. He’s a smart guy. But he completely mishandled the situation on so many levels that he has completely shattered the trust of the people who work for him. . . . At this point, the attorney general’s loyalty to President Bush needs to trump President Bush’s loyalty to the attorney general.”

Bush’s notion of loyalty was forged in the fires of his father’s White House, when he grew offended at what he saw as personal agendas and cutthroat infighting. The focus of much of his discontent was White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu, whom Bush considered more devoted to his own empire-building than to the president.

Sununu sealed his fate when he said on television that the president had “ad-libbed” a controversial line in a speech. Bush was furious that Sununu appeared to blame the president rather than defend him. “We have a saying in our family,” Bush was later quoted as saying. ” ‘If a grenade is rolling by the Man, you dive on it first.’ The guy violated the cardinal rule.” Bush flew to Washington and told Sununu to quit.

Byline: Lyndsey Layton

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Bethesda, Md.: Aren’t there records that Gonzalez could consult regarding when he made decisions or what high level meetings he attended? I forget things at work frequently and that’s what my notes and records are for.

Lyndsey Layton: Bethesda, in his testimony yesterday, Gonzales claimed there was no written record of the decision made by Sampson to fire the attorneys.

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Los Gatos, Calif.: Good Morning. I had a questions and I know it was a good question, but I can’t remember what it was. The process that I went through to formulate the question was flawed and I apologize, but I do remember that I had a question. I have searched my memory and can’t recall the question.

Lyndsey Layton: Los Gatos. I had an answer for you but in the 30 seconds it took me to hit the buttons here and post your question, I cannot recall what it was. I am likewise sorry for that fact, but I cannot offer a response that I cannot recall.

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Odenton, Md.: Good morning Lyndsey. Of the names you mentioned as a possible new AG, why would any of them want to leave their current position/life to run DOJ for only the last 20 months of this abysmal administration? They can’t even get anybody to agree to become War Czar because, as the typical explanation goes, the White House has no idea what it’s doing.

Lyndsey Layton: Why indeed. Why did Gates agree to become Defense Secretary? Something about service or when the president asks you to serve you don’t sit it out, etc. AG seems a little less like a death mission than DefSec.

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Springfield, Va.: What’s going on with the investigation of Rep. “$90,000-in-my-freezer” Jefferson? Why is this taking so long?

Lyndsey Layton: The freezer raid was in 2005, plenty of time for that cash to thaw out. One of the snags in the case came last May when the FBI raided Jefferson’s congressional office, sparking a legal tussle over whether the executive branch had violated the constitutional separation of powers. That debate is being played out in court and the documents seized are in limbo; meanwhile, a grand jury has been hearing other testimony and seeing other evidence.

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Portland, Ore.: Hi Lyndsey. Re: Gonzales — it’s not clear to me what happens next. If he chooses not to resign and Bush doesn’t fire him, what can the Senate do then? Whose court is the ball in now? Thanks.

Lyndsey Layton: Hi Portland. If Gonzales won’t step down and Bush won’t fire him, it’s really up to Senate Republicans and how hard they want to push for his removal.

Darden angered Cochran when he asked Heidstra if he (Heidstra) had told someone that one of the voices sounded Black. Cochran emphatically objected to the question and Ito Sustained it. However, Heidstra continued speaking. That led to Ito yelling at him to “Wait! Wait!”

The jury was then ordered to leave and Darden defended his line of questioning by pointing out that an aquaintance of Heidstra’s quoted him (Heidstra) as saying one of the voices sounded Black and like O. J. Simpson.

Cochran angrily responded: “I resent that statement. You can’t tell by somebody’s voice whether they sound Black.
There have been several other occasions when Cochran and Darden have had major disagreements. Darden has been accused of being a pawn used by the District Attorney’s office because the jury is primarily Black and so is he.

The L.A. Times pointed out that Cochran and Darden have been at each other’s throats since the beginning of the trial when Cochran made the suggestion that Darden was added to the team because of the racial make up of the jury.

John Burrus, an Oakland, CA, attorney told the Times: “Chris took it (Cochran’s suggestion) personally. As a consequence, Chris has responded to every one of Johnnie’s jabs and innuendoes. Partly that’s because he has suffered in public stature in the Black community, when he should be receiving accolades as an able professional prosecutor. He wears his resentment over that on his sleeve. What he doesn’t understand is that you can’t win a public relations battle with Johnnie Cochran.”
O.J. Simpson defense attorney Johnnie L. Cochran and prosecutor Chris Darden were recently threatened with contempt of court following a highly-charged courtroom debate over the issue of race.

The two, who had run-ins in the past, locked horns in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Lance Ito over the question of whether or not Darden was asking a racist question of a witness and the bigger question of whether or not one can tell if someone sounds Black. An angry Ito made the jury leave, warned both attornies and called for an immediate recess.

The latest incident began when Darden questioned defense witness Robert Heidstra, a neighbor of Nicole Brown Simpson, who claimed to have heard two voices arguing about 10:30 p.m. on the night Mrs. Simpson and her friend Ron Godman were murdered.