U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at last faced the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. Blawgletter saw only snippets, but even the best bits looked bad. Media reports appear to agree with that assessment. See stories here (WSJ), here (NYT), here (LA Times), and here (Fox News).
Blawgletter draws a couple of lessons from Fredo’s testimonial performance:
- Remember the important stuff. Nobody will believe a memory lapse about key events — such as a meeting with the President and an hour-long session with top staff — especially ones that happened a few months ago.
- If you don’t recall details before you testify, work your buns off to refresh your recollection. Read the hot documents! Make a timeline! You have no excuse for not using these readily available tools.
- Don’t jab your finger at the questioner. It looks petulant and and defensive and irritates people.
Blawgletter doesn’t expect that following our advice would save Fredo’s job. Not even telling the whole, ugly truth would do that. But, as we suggested before, at least it might have preserved a scrap of self-respect. Alas, Fredo chose a different path.
Barry Barnett
