Attorney General Alberto Gonzales looks like a man fighting for his job, as the fallout from the U.S. attorney firings continues. "I acknowledge that mistakes were made here. I accept responsibility," he told reporters yesterday. Both the New York Times and the Washington Post give Gonzales' brief press conference yesterday the full treatment. "It appears he's over his head in this job," Sen. Harry Reid tells the Post.
In an analysis piece, the Times takes the opportunity to call the statement a "classic Washington construct" that "sounds like a confession of error or even contrition, but in fact, it is not quite either one." Gonzales' words are compared with those of the carefully-parsed statement offered by Justin Timberlake's agent after Janet Jackson's whoopsie during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. “I am sorry if anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance."
Viacom's $1 billion copyright infringement suit against Google will shape the digital future, says the Wall Street Journal. Viacom says Google's YouTube is illegally profiting from Viacom television shows such as "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."
The Judicial Conference took steps to end "hidden dockets" in federal courts and place more audio of court hearings online, reports Legal Times' Tony Mauro. Meeting at the Supreme Court, the judges called for an end to the practice whereby some sealed cases vanish from electronic dockets.
Also, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit slapped the Environmental Protection Agency yesterday, ruling the EPA had ignored Congress and the courts in setting air pollution standards for brick and ceramic factories.
And if you're curious as to how the feds finally busted the lawyer who leaked documents implicating Barry Bonds and other athletes in the BALCO steroids case to reporters, The Recorder's Justin Scheck has a colorful tale of cops, rodeo cowboys, and millionaire sluggers here.
Meanwhile, over at Slate, Jack Shafer makes the case for Patrick Fitzgerald, arguing the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois didn't savage the First Amendment by compelling reporters to testify.
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