The Rise and Fall of Gonzo

The Chicago Tribune has some new details about the difficulties Attorney General Alberto Gonzales overcame in his life:

Gonzales' father was arrested for drunken driving five times in 17 years covering much of Gonzales' childhood and adolescence. Pablo Gonzales died in an industrial accident in 1982 when Gonzales was at Harvard Law School.

A younger brother, Rene Gonzales, died under mysterious circumstances in 1980. In 1991, the same year Alberto Gonzales became one of the first Hispanic partners at the white shoe Houston law firm of Vinson & Elkins, his younger sister Theresa pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to deliver. Nine years later, while Gonzales was on the Texas Supreme Court, his mother and another brother signed over their houses to a bail bondsman to raise bail for Theresa after she was charged with the same offense.


Most of these details did not arise in his Senate confirmation hearings, even though they might reasonably have been thought to affect his views about crime, drug and alcohol policy, and sentencing--all issues overseen or influenced by an attorney general.

What does the omissions of these details mean?

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Their omissions illustrate the remarkable extent to which Gonzales, 51, has managed to control the telling of his life story and the impenetrability of his outwardly mild and friendly manner.

They are also a function of Gonzales' peculiar rise to power, an official whose career in government, first in Texas and then in Washington, has been under the protective wing of a single man. Since 1995, Gonzales has worked exclusively in jobs given to him by George W. Bush.

As for how Gonzales hooked up with Bush:

Through service in the Texas State Bar Association, Gonzales met Harriet Miers of Dallas, who until January was White House counsel.

In the 1990s, Miers was Bush's personal lawyer and helped bring Gonzales into the inner circle of the soon-to-be candidate for governor of Texas.

Gonzales' entire career since then has been Bush-driven:

In the ensuing years, Gonzales has been a Bush retainer exclusively, serving as general counsel, Texas secretary of state, Texas Supreme Court justice and White House counsel before taking the helm of the Justice Department in February 2005.

Shorter version: He was never equipped, politically or otherwise, for the job.

But, there's more and I find this especially troubling. So will any defense lawyer who represents drug offenders. Remember Gonzales' sister mentioned above:

In January 2000, while Gonzales sat on the Texas Supreme Court, his sister Theresa and an accomplice were arrested in a Houston-area drug bust in which police seized 40 grams of cocaine, nearly a pound of marijuana, more than $3,000 in cash, an assault rifle, a sawed-off shotgun and a .50 caliber handgun, plus several hundred rounds of ammunition.

Court records indicate that at the time of her arrest, Theresa Gonzales was on 10 years' probation following a guilty plea to a similar charge in 1991.

The outcome to Theresa's 2000 case.

Court records show that Theresa Gonzales was sentenced to 90 days' "jail therapy" and the charge against her was dismissed.

What does Gonzales say about this?

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Alberto Gonzales didn't know about his sister's arrest until after the case was settled.

"The Gonzales family chose not to inform then-Judge Gonzales because of his position until after the matter had been fully adjudicated," Roehrkasse said in a statement.