Friendship with Shumer Means Nothing in Politics

This whole U.S. Attorney kerfuffle was apparently started because one Justice Department employee thought his friendship with Dem Senator Chuck Shumer meant something (from Special Report):

The Capitol Hill firestorm over the dismissal of several U.S. attorneys was touched off when Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty ignored guidance from the White House and rejected advice from senior administration lawyers about his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

ABC News reports that McNulty was advised against giving specific reasons for the dismissals —but ended up using the phrase "performance-related." Many took that as a contradiction of earlier testimony by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

So why did McNulty go his own way? The story cites sources as saying McNulty thought he could draw on his long friendship with Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer. But Schumer grilled McNulty in the hearing and Gonzales was said to be furious with his testimony.

Let this be a lesson to other Republicans when it comes to friendships with Dems.