Bush White House reiterates support for beleaguered attorney general

By: LAURIE KELLMAN - Associated Press | Friday, April 20, 2007 7:21 PM PDT ∞

WASHINGTON -- The Bush White House called embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales "our No. 1 crime fighter" Friday, a day after Gonzales' often halting explanations for the firings of eight federal prosecutors brought additional demands for his resignation.

"He has done a fantastic job in the Department of Justice," deputy press secretary Dana Perino told reporters traveling aboard Air Force One as President Bush headed for a speech in Michigan.

Gonzales went to Capitol Hill on Thursday with just one mission: to placate Republican and Democratic senators dissatisfied with his account of how eight federal prosecutors were fired.

Apparently, he failed. For the first time, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee broke ranks and said it might be best if Gonzales stepped down.

"It is generous to say the attorney general's communications about this matter have been inconsistent," Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., told Gonzales in a packed hearing room Thursday. "The consequence should be the resignation of the attorney general."

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said in an interview after the hearing, "There are some problems that he just hasn't handled well, and it might just be best if he came to a conclusion that the department is better served if he's not there."

Some of the committee's biggest questions went unanswered: How exactly did the Justice Department settle on the eight prosecutors who were fired? Does Gonzales have command of his agency?

"You have been a forceful witness, and you have had a lot of staying power," Sen. Arlen Specter, the committee's top Republican, said near the end of Gonzales' seven hours of testimony.

"But we haven't gotten, really, answers," added Specter, R-Pa. "I urged you to put on the record the details as to all the U.S. attorneys you asked to resign so that we could evaluate. And you have not done that."

Specter threw Gonzales a thin lifeline, declining to call for his resignation but making it clear he thinks there's little argument for Gonzales keeping his post.

"His ability to manage the department has been severely undercut by the way he has handled these resignations and by the way he has handled his news conferences, his press statements and his testimony before the committee," Specter said.

On Friday, Perino was asked if the White House was seeking a replacement for Gonzales. "Not that I am aware of," she replied. Then she delivered a lengthy defense of the beleaguered Cabinet officer.

Perino said Bush was pleased with Gonzales' testimony, and talked to him afterward. "The attorney general was fully responsive to the Congress. Again, proving that there was no credible allegation of wrongdoing, the attorney general did apologize for the way it was handled," she said.

"The attorney general continues to have the president's full confidence," she added.

Bush has said publicly that he thought the discharges of the prosecutors were appropriate but also has said he believed Gonzales did not do a good job of explaining it to Congress.

Seventy-one times on Thursday, Gonzales claimed a faulty memory when members of the Senate committee asked such questions as who decided on the ousted eight, and whether or not Gonzales was involved in the evaluation process.

It was not the performance President Bush seemed to be seeking when he said last March that "Al's got work to do up there." Still, White House officials said the president continued to support his longtime friend. Bush spokesman Tony Fratto said Gonzales "can be effective going forward."

For his part, the attorney general insisted he had committed no wrongdoing.

"The moment I believe I can no longer be effective, I will resign," he said.

Gonzales faced a long day of challenges to his credibility from Democrats and Republicans, while behind him, protesters hooted and sometimes shouted, "Liar!"

Senators ticked off evidence -- based on department documents and testimony from two former senior Justice officials -- that Gonzales participated in discussions about at least three of the fired prosecutors: Carol Lam in San Diego, Bud Cummins in Little Rock, Ark., and David Iglesias in New Mexico.

Gonzales recalled an Oct. 11 conversation with Bush and White House political adviser Karl Rove about voter fraud concerns during which Iglesias, who was later fired, came up.

"I now understand that there was a conversation between myself and the president," Gonzales said.

Asked several times whether he was responsible for deciding whom to fire, Gonzales at times appeared to answer both yes and no. At one point he said, "I had everything to do with the decision." At others, he described the decision process as a consensus among top Justice officials, headed by former chief of staff Kyle Sampson, that Gonzales agreed to.

Democrats, many of whom have called for Gonzales' resignation, widely ridiculed his answers. But some of the sharpest criticism came from Republicans.

On the Net:

Department of Justice: http://www.usdoj.gov

White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov