Looks like Alberto was insulating himself from the decisions in question:

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales signed a highly confidential order in March 2006 delegating to two of his top aides -- who have since resigned because of their central roles in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys -- extraordinary authority over the hiring and firing of most non-civil-service employees of the Justice Department.

I guess Alberto's claim that he knew nothing went wrong when he didn't know what happened starts to make sense now.

He would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for you meddling kids.