Lemme Get This Straight...

The Justice Department is responsible for holding people to account if they run afoul of the law - even the President. So before the President could proceed with a wiretapping program that the administration knew was most likely illegal, they went to the DoJ to get clearance. To cover their asses, so to speak. The didn't think it would be a problem, since they had installed hard-core wingnut John Ashcroft at the helm of that department.

But, lo and behold, he refused to sign off on it, because he knew it was illegal. So now the administration is in a dilemma, they have to twist some arms at Justice or else take a chance on running with the program anyway - and potentially bringing criminal charges upon themselves later.

So they wait until Ashcroft is near catatonic, in the intensive care unit of the hospital, and they send the President's lawyer, and his Chief of Staff into the ICU to try and pressure the guy - under heavy sedation, mind you - to sign off on the program.

All of this is in James Comey's testimony to Congress.

In the end, they had to water down the program, so far as we know, because the one they wanted was clearly illegal.

Think about what happened next: Ashcroft resigns, and so the President installed his personal lawyer, Alberto Gonzales, to head the department. Thing is, Gonzales was the lawyer who went to the ICU that night to pressure the head of the Department of Justice. Now you know that whatever the Pres asks of Justice, he gets, no questions asked, and nobody even has to know about it.

So you wonder why the President won't ask for Gonzales's resignation, no matter how little confidence the Legislative Branch or the people of the United States have in him? Imagine how difficult it would be now for the President to get a patsy as big as this one through confirmation hearings. No, the President won't ask the AG to resign; he's probably begging him to stay.