US News
US Attorney General Gonzales resigns (2nd Roundup)
By Mike McCarthy Aug 27, 2007, 16:12 GMT
US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announces his resignation during a press conference at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., USA, 27 August 2007. Gonzales has been under fire for months over his handling of the firing of several US attorneys. EPA/MATTHEW CAVANAUGH
Washington - The top US law enforcement officer, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, announced his resignation Monday after months of allegations he was behind the politically motivated firings of federal prosecutors.
Gonzales told reporters at a press conference that he informed US President George W Bush of his decision on Sunday and that his last day in office will be September 17. The position will be filled by Solicitor General Paul Clement until Bush appoints a successor.
'It has been one of my greatest privileges to lead the Department of Justice,' Gonzales, the nation's first Hispanic attorney general, said in a brief statement before walking away from the podium without taking questions.
Gonzales has been under intense pressure to resign from Democrats in Congress and even some of Bush's Republicans who believe he has not been honest about his role in the dismissal of eight federal prosecutors in December 2006. Democrats also allege he has abused the country's anti-terrorism laws.
Gonzales, 52, has been close to the president since Bush was governor of Texas and served as his top legal aid in the White House before taking over at the Justice Department in February 2005.
Bush, speaking from an airport in Waco, Texas, told reporters that he reluctantly accepted the resignation after months of 'unfair treatment' of Gonzales by Democrats.
'It's sad that we live in a time when a talented and honourable person is impeded from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons,' Bush said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a longtime critic of Gonzales, said the resignation will not end the investigation into any potential White House role in the sacking of the prosecutors.
'Alberto Gonzales was never the right man for this job. He lacked independence, he lacked judgment,' Reid said in a statement. 'This resignation is not the end of the story.'
Senate Democrats in July called for a perjury investigation of Gonzales, charging that he made conflicting statements during congressional testimony about the firing of the prosecutors.
Republicans who remained loyal to Gonzales characterized the Democratic assault on the attorney general as politically driven.
'It is my hope that whomever President Bush selects as the next attorney general, he or she is not subjected to the same poisonous partisanship that we've sadly grown accustomed to over the past eight months,' said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Gonzales had also come in for sharp criticism for allegedly overstepping the bounds of anti-terrorism laws in permitting surveillance of US citizens.
Gonzales is the latest to announce his departure from the administration as Bush heads into his final stretch in office. Bush's closest political advisor and deputy chief of staff Karl Rove announced earlier this month that he was leaving.
Rove had also been the subject of allegations about a potential White House role in the dismissal of the prosecutors. Rove, like Gonzales, has been with Bush since his days in Texas. Rove has refused to appear before the congressional panels probing the case.
While in the White House, Gonzales helped draft controversial rules for the interrogation of suspects in the war on terrorism that some critics allege permitted the use of torture - a charge strongly denied by Bush and his attorney general.
Gonzales also helped oversee the implementation of a domestic spying programme as a White House aide, and he accompanied then chief of staff, Andrew Card, during a 2004 hospital visit to pressure the attorney general at the time, John Ashcroft, into signing off on renewing the programme. Ashcroft, who was in intensive care, refused.
An Ashcroft deputy who was present in the hospital room, James Comey, told Congress that he viewed the visit as a White House attempt to take an advantage of a sick man.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
He'll be missed.. like one misses invasive dental work.
rumsfeld...wolfowitz...meirs...rove...gonzalez...jumping ship...does that mean we are sinking???
We are not sinking , the rats are abandoning the mother rat.
The one that forget the oath he took to DEFEND THE CONSTITUION.
We are not sinking, the rats are abandoning the Mother Rat. The one that forgot the oath he took to DEFENT THE CONSTITUION. (now I feel better).:)
We are not sinking , the rats are abandoning the Mother Rat. The one that forgot the oath it took to DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION. .....Now I feel much better. :)
I am a Republican and a conservative. That being said, however, I cannot watch calmly as people like Alberto Gonzales ignore right and wrong, and attempt to use their offices for partisan purposes. Dismissing U.S. attorneys because they may have refused to prosecute Democratic political figures at the behest of the White House, or Congressional Republicans, is outrageous, and Gonzales has no business holding his job. He is an example of the unfortunate tendency of this particular administration to appoint people completely on the basis of nepotism, and loyalty to Bush, rather than qualifications.
Good now that ATTORNEY-GENERAL 'GONZO' has resigned maybe the FEDS can handle some important jobs - like finally finding-out what happened to the F.B.I. FILES that were stolen by HILLARY and her 'pretend-husband' D^CKHEAD and finally prosecuting them??? Or heh how about prosecuting DEMBHOLE CONGRESSMAN WILLIAM JEFFERSON of NEW ORLEANS for all that 'cold cash' they caught him with??? Yep they'll be some changes at JUSTICE now for sure.
Bush: Helloo Dick! Yep, Ol Albeertooo resaghned...well...I pulled ou th one in mah desk we keep on file and resahned him...if'n ya knoow whaht ah meen!
Dick, think of all thim congressman sleepin easier....nooo Dick, not cause o thim wire taps, because Ol albeertoo ain't huntin thim n' moore..
Yep,that's rahght... noow ol Nancy Pelosi cin have ol willy jeffersoon back on thit committee agin...noooo, he's still goin t jail....but she cin use I'm while he's be' in tried! Hell, that bowlegged wahfe o Bill's is gonna pardon him anyways...
Noo, Dick...that's ooo KK bah me! Nooo, ya cin't shoot I'm Dick....no...not even in Texas....well, mahbe in the nahght time, y' knoow...?
Nah Dick...ah need a new one.....no, not a congressman fer yur targit practice, fer the office of AG.
No, Dick....ah don't need another cheeecanooo, jes a body t occupah th seat until 2009. No, he don't need t attend any hearins, except his own mahbe...
Dick, fahnd me sum happy lookin sumbich who'll jes sit thire fer 12 months, not try an convict any Congrismen, who'll not sahn any wire taps, or any utha sheenanigans....nooo Dick, ah actually don't care anah mooore if'n we gits attacked....democrats need more folks dyin ah guiss, must be missin Waco or sumpin...nooo, ah don't think he needs ta be much of a lawyah....jes reel purdy, ya knoow? Also, make sure he knoows not t pull a cubaaanooo kid from his bunk at gun point in th middle o th nahght in a swing state, ooo K?
Peace out, Commenazi! Good riddance.
I'm not surprised at all. You know that old cliche' about sinking ships? It comes to mind right now.
But ask yourself why Congressmen are so determined to get rid of an AG who is trying and convicting....Congressmen!?
Golly, do you need a picture drawn up for you?
OH well, this Is what happens when you do the wrong thing.
Dumbassssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
dumbasssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
....does it?
Why are congressmen wanting to get rid of an AG who's claim to fame is...prosecuting congressmen?
Willy Jefferson
Duke Cunningham
how many others, or their surrogates?
Interesting. I did not know he was going after Congressmen. Was he behind that Senator in Alaska who got nailed too?
Now I know why they hate this guy.
no, he had no choice regarding the fbi catching the congressmen.
in fact, if he was in charge of the fbi he would probably have covered their 'tracks.'
bottom line: dishonest, constitution burning, son of illegal immigrants - with a background like that, who can expect honesty?
ARIBA ANDALAY ANDALAY ARIBA!
HOW BOUT NOMINATING GEORGE LOPEZ; because:
a) hes funny
b) related to jennifer
c) related to legal immigrants
d) NONE OF THE ABOVE
When Albeertooo raided William Jefferson's office, Bush ordered him to seal the confiscated docs for 45 days.
Alberto told Bush he would either be allowed to try him or he would resign.
No, Ol Albeeerto is the real thing: He has pursued both democrats and republicans with equal vigor. He has broken no laws, other than thumbing his nose at the very slimeballs he's gone after.
For this, he has been targeted for persecution by Congress.
Libnazis wax on about integrity in government, and then try to undermine the first person who actually does something about it.
Then again, we saw the Clinton years so this is old news.
Yessiree Bob! The democrats can now bring back Sandy Berglar!
'Whew' Glad he's gone! I think I was next! Did we burn the Cayman Island spread sheets Sandy? How about the chinese campaign money?
Berglar: Oh, yes ma'am...I mean...I had to toss my pants in the fire with them....couldn't get them separated...
Hillary: good...fine.... a little more info than I needed Sandy...
Barak: Good news senator! You get another chance at the goal!
Kerry: yeah, I'm not a target anymore either...you know..the big dig...
Kennedy: yeah...th big dig! Glad the wetback didn't have time for that!
Reid: or those illegal aliens we bring up to vote! Imagine what'd happen then!
Edwards: Or my kickbacks from the meat and poultry industry!
Pelosi: God, that frickkin beaner was drivng me crazy! he off'ed Willy Jefferson and ruined my kids college fund! F--ker! Took it all right outa th freezer.
Kennedy: I get a taste of that, right?
Hillary: You goddamn Irish! Never keep a promise!
Yep, ol Albeeertoo's gone and the democrats feel sooo much better!
This is no big deal. The Attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president, they are political appointees. What part of 'serves at the pleasure of the president don't the democrats understand'? Gonzales fired 8, Clinton fired 93, and the democrats yawned! Can you say strictly politics anyone?
Mike Lyman
page: 1
MikeAug 27th, 2007 - 16:46:33
Apparently Mitch McConnell believes supporting the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions is an act of partisanship.
Maybe McConnell, like Sarah Taylor, mistakenly believes he took an oath the President. Whatever the case may be, McConnell has violated his oath of office, failed to respect the rule of law and helped turn the Senate into a cheerleading section for his corrupt President. McConnell's unwavering support for a corrupt official like Gonzales is disgraceful.
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