GOP undercuts Gonzales
WASHINGTON – Three key Republicans suggested Sunday they lack confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, increasing the pressure on a beleaguered White House to dump him.
“You cannot have the nation’s chief law enforcement officer with a cloud hanging over his credibility,” Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said on ABC’s “This Week.”
When asked if he thought Gonzales could still serve effectively, he answered, “I do not, and the president is going to have to make a tough choice here.”
Gonzales has been in the cross hairs of Democrats since the firing of eight U.S. attorneys and his denials that the firings were politically motivated or that he was involved in them.
White House memos have shown that the U.S. attorneys were dismissed because they were not “loyal Bushies” and that Gonzales signed off on the firings.
“We have to have an attorney general who’s candid, truthful,” said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “If we find he’s not been candid and truthful, that’s a very compelling reason for him not to stay on.”
“He has said some things that just don’t add up,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
But the White House is balking at the House and Senate judiciary committees, which have authorized subpoenas for political strategist Karl Rove and ex-White House Counsel Harriet Miers. The Oval Office is offering only private briefings – with no transcript – to the Democratic-led committees, which want sworn, public testimony.
Sunday, Specter and Graham, both on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the White House should at least allow a transcript and suggested sworn testimony isn’t needed because misleading Congress is a crime.
“If you start subpoenaing the advisers to the president about firing and hiring and getting into the Karl Rove-Harriet Miers under oath deal, you’re going to go to court,” said Graham.
Many Republicans remain strongly with President Bush, saying he can fire any political appointee he wants for political reasons, including prosecutors.
“The horrors of horrors,” mocked Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., on “Fox News Sunday.” “My goodness. How were they selected in the first place?”