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Monday, January 24, 2005

Tinker, Tailor, Torture Guy, Fixer

Newsweek has an interesting episode in the ongoing Alberto Gonzales saga.

While Gonzales's account tracks with the official court transcript, it leaves out a key part of what happened that day, according to Travis County Judge David Crain. In separate interviews, Crain—along with [defense lawyer] Wahlberg and prosecutor John Lastovica—told NEWSWEEK that, before the case began, Gonzales asked to have an off-the-record conference in the judge's chambers. Gonzales then asked Crain to "consider" striking Bush from the jury, making the novel "conflict of interest" argument that the Texas governor might one day be asked to pardon the defendant (who worked at an Austin nightclub called Sugar's), the judge said. "He [Gonzales] raised the issue," Crain said. Crain said he found Gonzales's argument surprising, since it was "extremely unlikely" that a drunken-driving conviction would ever lead to a pardon petition to Bush. But "out of deference" to the governor, Crain said, the other lawyers went along. Wahlberg said he agreed to make the motion striking Bush because he didn't want the hard-line governor on his jury anyway. But there was little doubt among the participants as to what was going on. "In public, they were making a big show of how he was prepared to serve," said Crain. "In the back room, they were trying to get him off."


Well, well. Two lawyers and a judge, on the record even. I'm sure the usual kool-aid drinkers in the conservative pajamahadeen will have an excuse for this too -- they always do. And it should be noted that the allegation is neither terribly surprising nor tragic.

The real novelty of the story is that it would say a lot about what's wrong with this country right now if Gonzales' appointment got derailed by this shit instead of....you know, the whole beatings and forced sodomy stuff. Waterboarding. ('Scuse me, freedomboarding.)

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