[Sosfbay-discuss] Republican says Gonzales should be fired

[JamBoi]

Naysayers on the impeachment issue please get this:  I've been pointing
out for a LONG time that just as it was the Nixon it will be the
Republicans that in the end come to Bush/Cheney and pressure them to
resign.  The Republicans want to have a *chance* to win future
elections and are so embarrassed as we approach the nearing Tipping
Point that they will do the work for us.  We just have to apply the
pressure to the Dems to get the process started and they'll take care
of the rest.  Witness the example below...

Impeach for Peace!

Drew

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070315/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/gonzales_prosecutors

Republican says Gonzales should be fired
By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer 32 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - A Senate Republican is calling for Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales' dismissal as Democrats weigh subpoenaing President
Bush's top aides in the escalating political furor over the firing of
eight federal prosecutors.

Sen. John Sununu (news, bio, voting record) of New Hampshire, a
longtime Bush administration critic facing a tough re-election
campaign, called for Gonzales' ouster Wednesday just hours after Bush
expressed confidence in the attorney general, who is a longtime friend.

"I think the president should replace him," Sununu said in an
interview. "I think the attorney general should be fired."

Although some Republicans have been tepid in their support for the
attorney general, Sununu was the first to go so far in the wake of an
uproar over the Justice Department's firing of the attorneys and its
response to congressional questions, plus a separate report that the
administration abused its power to secretly investigate suspected
terrorists.

The White House issued a curt response to Sununu's remarks.

"We're disappointed, obviously," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.
A Justice Department spokeswoman refused to comment.

Speaking to reporters in Mexico before returning to Washington, Bush
expressed confidence in Gonzales and defended the firings. "What Al did
and what the Justice Department did was appropriate," the president
said.

Still, Bush left himself room to sack the attorney general.

"What was mishandled was the explanation of the cases to the Congress,"
Bush said. "And Al's got work to do up there."

Gonzales, expected to meet with lawmakers this week, has been fending
off Democratic demands that he resign over the ousters of eight U.S.
attorneys — dismissals Democrats have characterized as a politically
motivated purge.

"We want Congress to know, to understand what happened here," Gonzales
said. "We'll work it out."

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday was considering subpoenas
for presidential political adviser Karl Rove, former White House
Counsel Harriet Miers and deputy White House counsel William Kelley,
all of whom exchanged e-mails for two years with the Justice Department
about the firings, according to documents made public this week.

The panel also was considering compelling the testimony of five of
Gonzales' aides, even though the attorney general has pledged to let
the officials speak with the committee.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters after the meeting with
presidential counsel Fred Fielding on Wednesday that Fielding promised
a yes-or-no answer by Friday.

"He said it was his goal to get us both the documents and the witnesses
that we seek to question," Schumer said. The White House was expected
to seek some conditions, but Fielding "said his intention was not to
stonewall," Schumer added.

Sununu long has been a critic of what he has said was the White House's
disregard for civil liberties in its war on terrorism and played a
large part in forcing the administration to accept new curbs on its
power during the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act last year.

He said his confidence in Gonzales had been shattered by the firings of
the prosecutors and by a report Friday by the Justice Department's
inspector general criticizing the administration's use of secret
national security letters to obtain personal records in terrorism
probes.

"We need to have a strong, credible attorney general that has the
confidence of Congress and the American people," Sununu said. "Alberto
Gonzales can't fill that role."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record), D-Nev.,
predicted Wednesday that Gonzales would soon be out.

"I think he is gone. I don't think he'll last long," Reid said in an
interview with Nevada reporters. Asked how long, Reid responded:
"Days."

Republicans came to Gonzales' defense.

"I don't believe the attorney general should resign over this," said
Sen. Judd Gregg (news, bio, voting record), R-N.H. "I don't believe his
ability to pursue the terrorist threat has been compromised to the
extent that he should resign."

Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., who is running
for his party's presidential nomination, agreed.

"(Gonzales) steadfastly maintains that he's done nothing wrong, so let
him make his case," McCain said.

Some of the dismissed prosecutors complained at hearings last week that
lawmakers tried to influence political corruption investigations.
Several also said there had been Justice Department attempts to
intimidate them.

E-mails between the Justice Department and the White House, released
Tuesday, contradicted the administration's earlier contention that
Bush's aides had only limited involvement in the firings.

U.S. attorneys are the federal government's prosecutors and serve at
the pleasure of the president. They can be hired or fired for any
reason, or none at all.

Senior Justice Department officials said Wednesday they considered for
several years ways to fill vacant prosecutors' jobs without judicial
meddling. They said they never intended to bypass the Senate
confirmation process when the department pushed to change the renewed
Patriot Act in 2006.

Instead, they said they sought to erase what Associate Deputy Attorney
General William Moschella called a "constitutional anomaly" that let
federal judges appoint interim U.S. attorneys in jobs that were vacant
for more than 120 days.

"There's a conspiracy theory about this and it's nothing other than
that," Moschella said in an interview Wednesday.

Moschella was one of several senior Justice Department officials who
testified to Congress about the firings. It was disclosed later that he
gave lawmakers misleading information.

Moschella declined to comment on that during the interview.

___________________

JamBoi
Jammy The Sacred Cow Slayer

"Live humbly, laugh often and love unconditionally" (anon)
http://dailyJam.blogspot.com


 
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