Some editorial comment on US attorney firings/Kyle Sampson testimony

Some editorial comment on US attorney firings/Kyle Sampson testimony:

• The Columbus Dispatch has this editorial, entitled "Time to step down: U.S. attorney general is a lightning rod for discord, has lost public's confidence."

• The Akron Beacon Journal has this editorial, entitled "Working on Capitol Hill: D. Kyle Sampson dodged his share of questions. What he did recall didn't help the attorney general."

• The New York Times has this editorial, entitled "The Rovian Era."

Excerpts:
...Mr. Rove took a lead role in selecting federal judges and the hiring — and firing — of United States attorneys. Mr. Rove’s staff maneuvered to fire the prosecutor in Arkansas and replace him with a Rove protégé, and also seems to have been involved in the firing of a United States attorney in New Mexico who refused to file what he considered to be baseless charges of election fraud against Democrats.

...The investigation of the firings of the United States attorneys seems to be closing in on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who should have been fired weeks ago. But Congress should bring equal scrutiny to the more powerful Mr. Rove. If it does, especially by forcing him to testify in public, it will find that he has been at the vortex of many of the biggest issues they are now investigating.

• The Chicago Tribune has this editorial, entitled "Gonzales' amnesia."

Excerpt:
...While serving as Gonzales' chief of staff, Kyle Sampson advocated using the Patriot Act's authority to install Timothy Griffin, a former aide to Karl Rove, as a U.S. attorney in Arkansas, asking: "If we don't ever exercise it, what's the point of having it?"

If senators objected, he wrote in one e-mail: "I think we should gum this to death. Ask the senators to give Tim a chance, meet with him, give him some time in office to see how he performs, etc. ... and otherwise run out the clock. All this should be done in 'good faith' of course." ...

• The LA Times has this editorial, entitled "Gonzales shifts his story."

Excerpt:

...As advertized, D. Kyle Sampson's testimony Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the questionable firings of eight U.S. attorneys was bad news for Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales. The nation's chief law enforcement officer stands revealed as either an unreliable witness or a man who would rather deceive Congress than admit to his own wrongdoing. ...