 |
|
|
 News from Around the Americas | March 2007 
Bush Criticizes Handling of Prosecutors’ Dismissals
 Sheryl Gay Stolberg - NYTimes
| | Mr. Bush offered reporters his first explanation of his own role, saying that although he had relayed complaints to Mr. Gonzales about federal prosecutors, “I never brought up a specific case nor gave him specific instructions.” |
Washington - President Bush said Wednesday that he had confidence in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, but that he was “frankly not happy about” the way Mr. Gonzales had handled the dismissal of federal prosecutors, a move that has led to a Congressional investigation into whether the White House allowed politics to interfere with law enforcement.
As Mr. Gonzales defended himself in television interviews, Mr. Bush, in Mexico on the last day of his Latin America trip, offered reporters his first explanation of his own role, saying that although he had relayed complaints to Mr. Gonzales about federal prosecutors, “I never brought up a specific case nor gave him specific instructions.”
The president’s statement did little to tamp down speculation that Mr. Gonzales would be forced to resign. Nor did it settle the growing furor on Capitol Hill, where a Republican senator became the first in his party to call for Mr. Gonzales to step down, and the new White House counsel, Fred F. Fielding, met with lawmakers on the possible testimony of administration officials, including the chief political adviser, Karl Rove.
Mr. Bush defended the removals as “customary practice,” adding: “I’ve heard those allegations about political decision making. It’s just not true.”
But the president said he was troubled by the lack of “straightforward communication” to Congress about the dismissals and said he expressed his dissatisfaction to Mr. Gonzales in a telephone call Wednesday.
“What was mishandled was the explanation of the cases to Congress,” he said. “And Al has got work to do up there.”
Mr. Bush’s critique, at a morning press conference with President Felipe Calderón of Mexico that was supposed to showcase close ties between the two countries, underscored the tenuous nature of Mr. Gonzales’s hold on his job. A Republican close to the White House said Mr. Fielding would determine whether Mr. Gonzales could remain.
In the afternoon, Senator John E. Sununu of New Hampshire became the first Republican lawmaker to call for the attorney general to step down.
“The president needs a strong, reliable, assertive attorney general who will be effective in dealing with Congress on domestic security, immigration issues and the war on terrorism,” Mr. Sununu said in a telephone interview. “Unfortunately, Alberto Gonzales over the last 18 months has lost the confidence of the Congress and the American people, and he’s not in a position to serve the president effectively.”
Mr. Sununu tangled with Mr. Gonzales over the reauthorization of the Patriot Act last year,
Other Republicans, though not quite as pointedly, also expressed strong doubts about Mr. Gonzales on Wednesday, particularly in light of his press conference the day before, where he apologized by saying “mistakes were made.”
At a private meeting of Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, no one spoke up in support of Mr. Gonzales, according to a person who was there.
“The U.S. attorney general is probably facing the deepest crisis of his particular tenure,” Senator John Ensign, a Nevada Republican who has been critical of the dismissal of a prosecutor in his state, said in an interview. “We will find out how he handles this over the next few weeks, whether he is the kind of leader that deserves to stay in office.”
Questions about the dismissals have been swirling around the administration since January, but reached a fever pitch this week when the White House, trying to get out in front of the Democrats’ investigations, acknowledged that Mr. Bush had relayed complaints to Mr. Gonzales and released e-mail messages showing correspondence between White House officials and the Justice Department over a list of which prosecutors would lose their jobs.
Democrats are now demanding additional documents, as well as testimony under oath from three top current and former White House officials: Mr. Rove; Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel; and William Kelley, the deputy counsel.
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, said he would subpoena them if they refused to appear.
“I intend to get the testimony,” Mr. Leahy said in an interview. “If they don’t want to come voluntarily, then I will subpoena them. If the White House wants still to refuse, you have to ask yourself, Why stonewall? If they’ve got nothing to hide, why not testify?”
Mr. Fielding, who met privately with a small group of lawmakers to discuss the requests for documents and testimony, promised an answer after he consulted with Mr. Bush, said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, who has been spearheading the investigation in the Senate and attended the session.
“He said that he’s got to check it with the higher-ups,” Mr. Schumer said, “and the higher-up he mentioned was the president, and he said he would get back to us on Friday. We made a real pitch that he shouldn’t invoke privilege, and he seemed to agree with us. And he said that he wanted to make this work because he had a reputation, his own reputation, to uphold.”
The lone Republican to attend the meeting, Representative Chris Cannon of Utah, said Mr. Fielding’s visit sent an important signal to the group. “That’s the president’s way of saying, ‘We take this seriously’ ” Mr. Cannon said.
United States attorneys are political appointees and serve at the pleasure of the president — a point Mr. Bush took pains to note at his press conference on Wednesday, when he said, “Past administrations have removed U.S. attorneys; they’re right to do so.”
The recent dismissals, involving eight prosecutors, however, are unusual.
In the past, incoming administrations have replaced United States attorneys with their own presidential appointees after taking over from the other political party, as President Bill Clinton did when he won the White House after 12 years of Republican control. But neither the Clinton nor the Reagan administrations sought the removal of United States attorneys in their second terms.
Democrats, as well as some Republicans, including Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, say they want to know whether the dismissals were motivated by a desire to squelch corruption investigations involving Republicans.
Mr. Specter has expressed particular concern about the dismissal of Carol C. Lam, who prosecuted Randy Cunningham, the former Republican congressman now serving an eight-year sentence in a corruption case.
Mr. Specter, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday that he was not satisfied with Mr. Gonzales’s public comments, in which he said he did not know how his staff had handled the dismissals. Mr. Specter has been a critic of Mr. Gonzales on several issues, especially the administration’s domestic eavesdropping program.
“It’s not a matter of accepting responsibility,” Mr. Specter said. “It’s a matter of whether there is justification for asking those U.S. attorneys to resign. That is the issue, and we need to know a lot more than we’ve been told. Gonzales said yesterday he didn’t know why they were asked to resign. Well, it’s time he knew.”
Neil A. Lewis and Michael Luo contributed reporting. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us