Video: Tony Snow tells CBS’ Smith he sounds like a “partisan rather than a reporter”

Tony Snow appeared on CBS’ “The Early Show” this morning to discuss the firing of eight US attorneys by the White House. Smith got testy after Tony Snow Smith’s attempt to politicize the firings. Snow won the watch with an ace: Smith, you sound more like a partisan than a reporter. Key parts of the transcript are below, followed by video:

SNOW: The perception is you’re trying to badger me into creating a fight between the White House and the, the legislative branch. And what we’re trying to do is something pretty extraordinary. The legislative branch has no oversight responsibility over the White House, and what we’re –

SMITH: Tony, here’s what it looks like is that these, these people who are, certainly serve at the, at the will of the president, or the pleasure of the president, have been kicked out for undue political influence. Even on the front page of your “Washington Post” today you have the lead prosecutor in the big tobacco case saying that the Alberto Gonzales Justice Department, quote/unquote, “political interference is happening at justice across the department. When decisions are made now at the Bush attorney general’s office, politics is the primary consideration. The rule of law goes out the window.”

SNOW: Harry, you’re sounding like a partisan rather than a reporter here. Let me — please permit me to try to explain what’s going on. Because if you take a look also,reporting in the “New York Times,” what they’ve said is a look at the documents indicates that there is no political interference. When people have looked at the available documentary evidence in the case of the US attorney, zippo. So I think what you need to do is to stop trying to make a break for political interference and maybe do what we’re asking members of Congress to do, which is figure out what the facts are.

Click for video:

(hat tip: Newsbusters)

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