[Sosfbay-discuss] Chuck Hagel (Republican) calls for Gonzales to resign.

[Wes Rolley]

http://dwb.sacbee.com/24hour/politics/story/3620795p-12926882c.html

*Hagel demands Gonzales' resignation
By LAURIE KELLMAN -- Associated Press Writer
*Last Updated 2:22 pm PDT Wednesday, May 16, 2007


<http://cagreening.blogspot.com/2007/05/top-ten-environmental-goofs-by-bush.html> 

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Attorney General Alberto Gonzales speaks at a news maker event, Tuesday, 
May 15, 2007, at the National Press Club in Washington.
Ron Edmonds -- AP Photo

*See additional images*
 
WASHINGTON (AP) Sen. Chuck Hagel on Wednesday became the latest 
Republican to call for Alberto Gonzales' resignation, saying revelations 
about a sick bed visit to his predecessor have undermined his moral 
authority to lead the Justice Department.

Citing dramatic testimony a day earlier that revealed that Gonzales, 
then the White House legal counsel, tried to undermine the department he 
now leads, Hagel demanded the attorney general's resignation.

"The American people deserve an attorney general, the chief law 
enforcement officer of our country, whose honesty and capability are 
beyond question," Hagel, R-Neb., said in a statement. "Attorney General 
Gonzales can no longer meet this standard. He has failed this country. 
He has lost the moral authority to lead."

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President Bush continued to stand by his longtime friend and adviser. 
Asked about Hagel's comment on Gonzales' moral authority, press 
secretary Tony Snow replied: "We disagree, and the president supports 
the attorney general."

Hagel has hinted at seeking his party's presidential nomination but has 
not officially declared his candidacy. Another GOP contender, Sen. John 
McCain, last month called for Gonzales' resignation.

Hagel's harsh words came in response to testimony Tuesday by James 
Comey, deputy to Gonzales' predecessor, John Ashcroft. Comey said that 
Gonzales pressured an ailing Ashcroft to approve the legality of 
President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program. Ashcroft - critically 
ill with pancreatitis at the time - rebuffed Gonzales, Comey recalled.

The White House went ahead with the program without Justice Department 
approval, Comey said. Faced with the resignations of Comey, Ashcroft and 
FBI Director Robert Mueller, Bush relented and changed the program to 
address Justice's concerns.

The story plus the dustup over the firings of at least eight federal 
prosecutors inspired Hagel to demand that Gonzales step down.

"Alberto Gonzales should resign now," Hagel said.

The White House has not confirmed nor refuted Comey's account, but Snow 
described it as only one view of the events.

"Jim Comey gave his side of what transpired. The president still has 
full confidence in Alberto Gonzales," Snow said.

Unhappy with Gonzales, most Republicans have nonetheless largely 
refrained from calling for his resignation. Republicans who have called 
for Gonzales' ouster include Sens. John Sununu, R-N.H., Tom Coburn, 
R-Okla., and House GOP Conference Chairman Adam Putnam, R-Fla.

Democrats sought to re-ignite the discussion of Gonzales' fitness for 
office by eliciting - then pouncing on - the details of that night in 
March, 2004. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., cast the incident as an example 
of what he said was the attorney general's habit of putting Bush's 
interests ahead of virtually all else. Otherwise, the story had little 
connection to the Democrats' stated topic for the hearing, the ousters 
of eight federal prosecutors over the winter.

At issue in 2004 was Bush's no-warrant wiretapping program, which Comey 
described as so questionable that Ashcroft refused for a time to 
reauthorize it as required in March, 2004.

Senior government officials had expressed concerns about whether the 
National Security Agency, which administered the program, had the proper 
oversight in place. Other concerns included whether any president 
possessed the legal and constitutional authority to authorize the 
program as it operated at the time.

Days before the program's required recertification in March, 2004, 
Ashcroft suddenly fell ill enough with pancreatitis that he transferred 
the powers of the attorney general to Comey. Acting Attorney General 
Comey, too, refused to certify the program's legality.

On March 10, Gonzales, then White House Counsel, and Bush's former chief 
of staff, Andy Card, took the matter to Ashcroft as he lay in the 
intensive care unit at George Washington University Hospital. Tipped to 
their impending visit, Comey raced there with the sirens of his security 
detail blaring, he told the committee Tuesday.

Comey arrived at Ashcroft's bedside moments before the president's aides 
walked in, Gonzales holding the presidential order of recertification.

Ashcroft rebuffed them, pointing out that Comey held the powers of the 
attorney general at that moment. Gonzales and Card left the room without 
acknowledging Comey.

Card later demanded that Comey come to the White House. Comey said he 
demanded a witness accompany him after the conduct he'd seen at 
Ashcroft's bed side.

Card "replied, 'What conduct? We were just there to wish him well,'" 
Comey recalled.

The White House certified the legality of the program without the 
Justice Department's signoff, causing Comey, Ashcroft and Mueller to 
prepare their resignations, Comey said. Faced with a mass walkout at the 
helm of Justice, Bush relented.

A day after the incident at Ashcroft's hospital bedside, Bush ordered 
changes to the program to accommodate the department's concerns. 
Ashcroft signed the presidential order to recertify the program about 
three weeks later.

The FBI and the Justice Department refused to comment on the meeting, 
but defended the eavesdropping program as essential to the war on 
terrorism. Spokesmen for Ashcroft and Mueller refused requests for comment.


-- 
Wesley C. Rolley
17211 Quail Court
Morgan Hill, CA 95037
(408)778-3024

"Why should we not be able to do what others have done before us?  The answer must be that art is created not by human wisdom or intellect, but by human character as it is shaped by the times." Kitaoji Rosanjin.