Attorney General Acknowledges, Defends Actions
By Dan Eggen
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 19, 2007; Page A02
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales acknowledged yesterday that some U.S. attorneys have been asked to resign their posts in recent weeks because of performance issues, but he denied any political motives and vowed to quickly submit new nominees for the jobs to the Senate for confirmation.
"What we're trying to do is ensure that for the people in each of these respective districts, we have the very best possible representative for the Department of Justice," Gonzales testified, adding later: "I would never, ever make a change in a United States attorney for political reasons or if it would in any way jeopardize an ongoing serious investigation. I just would not do it."
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales acknowledged yesterday that some U.S. attorneys have been asked to resign their posts in recent weeks because of performance issues, but he denied any political motives and vowed to quickly submit new nominees for the jobs to the Senate for confirmation.
"What we're trying to do is ensure that for the people in each of these respective districts, we have the very best possible representative for the Department of Justice," Gonzales testified, adding later: "I would never, ever make a change in a United States attorney for political reasons or if it would in any way jeopardize an ongoing serious investigation. I just would not do it."
A little-noticed provision of last year's USA Patriot Act reauthorization legislation allows the attorney general to pick an interim U.S. attorney for an indefinite period of time
It is odd that most of these firings involved attorneys who had prosecuted Governament Officials, interestingly enough they are all Bush appointees. Interesting also how the Patriot Act appears to be directed at "us" rather than "them" (Terrorists) very convenient tool that has become a kind of "catch all" for anything that is unconstitutional. In My View of It Gonzales prostests too much!
Sphere: Related Content
3 comments:
Actually I checked and no I wouldn't! Thanks for the comment though.
it is amazing how little trust I have in this little weasel
He is a weasel and I think we are going to be hearing a lot more about just how conniving he really is.
Post a Comment