Like many who share my politics I think there are more than a few reasons to oppose Alberto Gonzales's appointment as Attorney General: his role in the Abu Ghraib scandal being the chief among them.

Having said that, there is less than no chance that he won't be approved. And presidents deserve much more latitude with cabinet appointments than appointments to the bench.

But with all the discussion of why the president chose him and why he may or may not be qualified, I'm surprised one issue seems to go largely unmentioned.

Despite the fact they weren't resolved before the election, high level administration officials are still the targets of or implicated in a number of potentially damaging criminal investigations.

Whether or not he's conservative enough, tolerant or intolerant enough of torture, or anything else, Mr. Gonzales is one thing for President Bush: reliable.

Democrats won't be able to prevent his appointment. But they should take the opportunity of his confirmation hearings to put him on the record about how he will handle these various on-going investigations, at least one of which directly involves the White House and thus also involves him.