Elsewhere, it's being argued that there is no reason for a Special Prosecutor to investigate Alberto Gonzales.
That's true, if we ignore the political equation. However, there are good reasons to demand one anyway. Let me walk you through them.
From the link above the fold:
The Independent Counsels law expired in 1999, and was effectively replaced by Department of Justice regulation 28 CFR Part 600, under which Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed to look into the Plame affair.
Guess who has the job of appointing a Special Prosecutor under 28 CFR Part 600?
PART 600--GENERAL POWERS OF SPECIAL COUNSEL--Table of Contents
Sec. 600.1 Grounds for appointing a Special Counsel.
The Attorney General, or in cases in which the Attorney General is
recused, the Acting Attorney General, will appoint a Special Counsel
when he or she determines that criminal investigation of a person or
matter is warranted and--
(a) That investigation or prosecution of that person or matter by a
United States Attorney's Office or litigating Division of the Department
of Justice would present a conflict of interest for the Department or
other extraordinary circumstances; and
(b) That under the circumstances, it would be in the public interest
to appoint an outside Special Counsel to assume responsibility for the
matter.
That's right. A Special Prosecutor to investigate Alberto Gonzales has to be appointed by Alberto Gonzales. Obviously, that isn't going to happen. The first political pressure point, then, is insisting that Gonzales recuse himself. Since perjury and contempt of Congress appear to be clear grounds for investigation, Gonzales' refusal to recuse will certainly trigger impeachment. It will only make it easier to make the case.
Next, Gonzales should be given the choice: Special Prosecutor or impeachment? This is pressure point number two. Devilstower is correct that impeachable offenses happened in that committee room yesterday. Which way does Gonzales want to be squeezed out?
As for which way helps our cause more, I think the prosecutor offers far more opportunities to go beyond Gonzales and investigate the whole of the Executive Branch. If the prosecutor looks at the bedside affair, for example, he/she will have to look at the actual program that was discussed that day. Think through all the ways a Special Prosecutor can investigate that an impeachment prosecution cannot.
If Gonzales chooses impeachment, here's how the process looks:
While the Constitution outlines the basic process for impeachment, the specific procedures are determined by the internal rules of the House of Representatives and the Senate. To begin, the House of Representatives refers the investigation to its Judiciary Committee, which reviews the evidence and may conduct hearings. It determines whether an official impeachment inquiry is warranted and, if so, asks the House for permission to proceed. An official investigation follows, with the Committee deciding whether to offer articles of impeachment to the full House. The House then votes separately on each of the articles, with a simple majority needed to impeach the official. Articles of impeachment approved by the House are then presented to the Secretary of the U.S. Senate for trial.
Faced with those two choices, what would Gonzales do? Personally, I think he'd resign at that point, having been given two very unappealing choices. Bush and Cheney then have to hunker down while Congress investigates anyway, without Gonzales to block them.
Win, win, win. I love the smell of scared Bush loyalists in the morning.