While the testimony doesn't change and additional facts continue to bubble to the surface, the rubberstamp committee continues to deliver for their dear leader.
Republican members of Congress on Thursday leapt to the defence of Alberto Gonzales, the embattled US attorney-general, as Democratic efforts to oust him appeared to lose momentum.
Mr Gonzales faced a fresh barrage of question from Democrats over the controversial firing of several US attorneys when he appeared before the House judiciary committee.
But Republican committee members largely supported Mr Gonzales and called for an end to the investigation, easing pressure on one of President George W. Bush's closest political allies.
For those seeking higher office, a return to the one they currently occupy or a simply to maintain their credibility why are they seeking to simply ignore such egregious misuse of the DOJ?
During this recent debate, what defenses have Bush and his supporters used?
They frequently claim that all presidents fire U.S. attorneys and that they "serve at the pleasure" of the president, and have added that Clinton was even worse because he fired all 93 U.S. attorneys when he took office.
As indicated above, this claim does not fit the facts or the law.
They, including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales himself during his recent testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, frequently claim that "there is no evidence whatever that we have done anything wrong" or "that we dismissed the attorneys for political reasons."To the contrary, nearly all the evidence points in the opposite direction. We still don't know why the prosecutors were dismissed because no one has produced any reason for the firings other than the president has the power to do it.
Gonzales seems unaware of the definition of evidence. It was evidence when several of the fired prosecutors testified that they had been the subject of strong political pressure to act contrary to conscience. It was evidence when e-mails demonstrated that White House presidential adviser Karl Rove was involved in the firing decisions. That is alarming. The political arm of the Bush administration, knowing nothing about law or the Constitution, was allowed to give orders to the Department of Justice. There is a good deal more evidence from witnesses as well as documents, many of which the administration claims are lost.
Many have attempted to make this an issue about the lying and incompetence of Gonzales.
This approach is an effort to direct the public away from the essential problem. The question is not whether he lied, but what he lied about. He can be forgiven for lying or even only fired for it, but to admit that the entire Bush administration was in the act of eroding the rule of law is a matter for posterity and can lead to prosecutions and impeachment.
This was not just a clumsy failure of Gonzales to adequately explain the firings. If it were, he could have acquitted himself thoroughly during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings at the end of the week of April 15. His testimony was a clear demonstration that the firings involved an abuse of power.
Whether Gonzales is fired or resigns his office is of little significance. Congress must pursue its investigations to determine the roots of these nearly unbridled attacks on the rule of law and the Constitution.
There you have it America... the ultimate end goal in this pursuit. The rule of law in which we all put our faith. Questioning or demeaning this pursuit is as unpatriotic as the White House says questioning their motives is.