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Time for Congress to call off the dogs

Published August 31, 2007 at midnight

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With the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, there has been a virtual clean sweep in the top ranks of the Justice Department. His top aides are gone and so are the political liaisons at the White House, Karl Rove and Harriet Miers.

The focus now should be on getting a new, widely respected and mutually acceptable attorney general in office to begin rebuilding the morale of a badly battered agency.

Thus, there is decreasing value in Congress pursuing the investigation into the firings of U.S. attorneys. It was Gonzales' botched and evasive response to committee inquiries about those firings that ultimately led to his downfall.

But the Democrats show no sign of letting up. Both the House and Senate Judiciary committees say they will pursue their firing probes full bore, with the House threatening contempt citations against Miers and current Bush Chief of Staff Josh Bolten.

It's hard to see what more can be gained by continuing to go after the U.S. attorney firings.

The firings were unquestionably legal even if the motives behind them were dishonorable. After more than two-dozen hearings, it's still unclear who, assuming it was any one person at Justice or the White House, ordered the firings. And if there was, what difference other than historical interest does it make? The firings are not going to be repeated by this administration.