WASHINGTON — Sen. Orrin Hatch has used the phrase "tempest in a teapot" numerous times when describing the controversy surrounding Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and he tried to prove that point at this week's hearing featuring Gonzales.

The hearing room was tense as protesters stood dressed in orange prison jumpsuits with Gonzales scrawled in black marker on them, while other protesters carried posters reading "Resign!" Even Republicans asked tough questions, and only Hatch came to Gonzales' defense.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., called for Gonzales' resignation, and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., called the meeting a "reconfirmation hearing." Democrats, meanwhile, wanted specific details on the attorney general's involvement in the firings of U.S. attorneys.

But Hatch, R-Utah, remained a White House ally and offered Gonzales a brief oasis.

"How many employees do you have at the Department of Justice?" Hatch asked. "What are the main core functions of the Department of Justice that you supervise?" "You spend a lot of time traveling in the country as well, don't you?" and "You spend a lot of time down at the White House as well, don't you?"

They were all much easier questions than his panel colleagues had posed.

Gonzales replied that he oversees about 110,000 employees, and he's the top law enforcement officials in the country, which includes overseeing the FBI. He said he enjoys traveling the country to meet with U.S. attorneys, and while he does not spend as much time at the White House as he used to (he was a White House counsel before going to the Justice Department), he does meet with the president and attends Cabinet meetings.

Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank, who attended the hearing, said Hatch may seem "silly and partisan" to some when asking these types of questions, but Hatch "does this all the time."

Kelly Patterson, an associate professor of political science at Brigham Young University, said oversight hearings are often political affairs.

"You are going to treat your political allies better," Patterson said.

Brian Darling, director of U.S. Senate relations at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, said Hatch's questioning was completely appropriate.

"There were enough senators there to ask tough questions," he said. "It's important for someone to play the role of peacemaker."

Hatch, too, defends his questioning, saying he was trying to show that Gonzales has numerous responsibilities and is pulled in many different directions.

"To expect him to be on top of every staffer who works in the Justice Department is something that we can technically say he should do, but practically, wise people would say, 'Look, should we blame him for every mistake that's made by the Justice Department?"' Hatch said.

Hatch insists that this is a "tempest in a teapot" because he believes that nothing in the testimony or documents made available to Congress shows the attorneys were fired for the wrong reasons.

At the hearing, Hatch made certain that Gonzales was on the record answering the main question behind the whole controversy.

"Were any of these eight U.S. attorneys asked to resign in retaliation for or to interfere with any case that they brought or refused to bring?" Hatch asked.

"That's not the reason I asked for the resignations, senator," Gonzales said.

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