US Attorneys - Al Gonzales has to be gone

First we have the Murray Waas piece reporting that Al Gonzales convinced President Bush to refuse security clearances shutting down an investigation into NSA spying that would have targeted Alberto Gonzales.

Also, we now have an ABCNews story pointing to Rove discussing firing all 93 attorneys with..... guess who?

New unreleased e-mails from top administration officials show that the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys was raised by White House adviser Karl Rove in early January 2005, indicating Rove was more involved in the plan than the White House previously acknowledged.

The e-mails also show that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales discussed the idea of firing the attorneys en masse weeks before he was confirmed as attorney general.

The e-mails directly contradict White House assertions that the notion originated with recently departed White House counsel Harriet Miers, and was her idea alone.

So, Al Gonzales discussed political firings with Rove before he was AG, and then magically forgot the whole thing.

Oh, and the White House has been caught in lies about Rove's political involvement ("at the epicenter.")

I have a feeling that somewhere Scott McClellan is laughing his ass off.

(According to ABC, the emails could be released as early as released Friday. (I'm guessing Friday afternoon.))

Later: Don't miss Schumer, "“I know, from other sources, that there is an active and avid discussion in the White House whether [Gonzales] should stay or not,” adding that “the odds are very high that he will no longer be the attorney general.”

And, "“One of the reasons everything is getting out here is that there are people, particularly in the Justice Department, who have been so disgusted with what’s happening that information is getting out.”

And, we enter Phase IV, the breakdown phase.

The kicker is phase IV, the breakdown phase. The breakdown phase is where someone from inside the scandal comes forward to tell their tale, punching holes in the carefully crafted partial admissions and setting the wolves on the scandal members.

This person is usually either someone within the scandal facing consequences (usually legal) or someone outside the loyalty ring who sees this moment as an opportunity to twist a knife.

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