Pressure is mounting on US attorney general Alberto Gonzales to resign as his credibility comes under increasing scrutiny over the sacking of eight federal prosecutors. Mr Gonzales, already a controversial figure, most notably for providing the legal rationale to the administration for the robust treatment of terrorist prisoners, has been close to President Bush since his time as governor of Texas and his departure would undoubtedly be a major political blow to the embattled president.
Although Mr Bush rallied to his support on Saturday, the disclosure on Friday that Gonzales had chaired a November meeting where the firings were discussed - contrary to his previous claim that he was "not involved in any discussions about what was going on" - has led even Republicans to question whether he can remain in office. His chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, has already resigned, and Mr Gonzales may soon follow.
Republicans have sought, with some justice, to portray the sackings row as a manufactured, phoney scandal and point to the fact that President Clinton's attorney general, Janet Reno, fired at one go in March 1993 all 93 federal prosecutors appointed by his predecessor. They omit to mention the same pattern going back to President Reagan, who replaced 89 in his first two years in office while President Bush had 88 new US attorneys in his first two years in office.
Federal, or US, attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president, and are usually appointed by him on the recommendation of state Republican or Democrat leaders. The practice reflects the intertwining of politics and the law in the US at all levels, which sees judges and local prosecutors subject to election, a feature of the US system that seems extraordinarily alien to our tradition.
Where the administration got into trouble initially this time was the pretence that the eight had been selected for sacking on "performance criteria". A study of prosecutorial performance data - the American obsession with statistics means there is data for everything from football yardage to conviction rates for lawyers - showed the excuse to be patent nonsense. It led immediately to charges that the administration was "politicising" the day-to-day running of the justice system by specifically targeting prosecutors who seemed to be favouring Democrats or pursuing Republicans.
Yet that will not be what brings down Mr Gonzalez. If he has to fall on his sword it will be for trying to cover up something that did not need covering up. Politics is a hard old game.