U.S. better off if Gonzales resigns, Gingrich says

WASHINGTON – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Sunday urged Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales to resign, saying the “self-created mess” over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year has hampered his ability to do his job.

“I cannot imagine how he is going to be effective for the rest of this administration,” Gingrich said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“They’re going to be involved in endless hearings, which is going to take up an immense amount of time and effort,” he said. “I think the country, in fact, would be much better served to have a new team at the Justice Department, across the board.”

Gingrich, who is believed to be considering a run for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, is the latest prominent Republican to speak out against the attorney general, and Democrats said the remarks were evidence of waning support within Gonzales’ own party.

“This is another important voice who believes that the attorney general should step down for the good of the country and the good of the department,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., a Senate Judiciary Committee member who has led the investigation of the dismissals.

Gingrich, who served 11 terms in Congress and is now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, defended Bush’s right to replace the federal prosecutors, who are all presidential appointees. But he said the administration and Gonzales had bungled the explanation of the moves and should be held accountable.

“This is the most mishandled, artificial, self-created mess that I can remember in the years I’ve been active in public life. And it has to – you know, the buck has to stop somewhere, and I’m assuming it’s the attorney general and his immediate team,” Gingrich said. “How could you have so totally mishandled what was a slam dunk?”

The ouster of the eight prosecutors has touched off a political firestorm and become a litmus test of the ability of Gonzales to manage the sprawling Justice Department and its 110,000 employees.

Democrats are concerned that the department, in concert with the White House, targeted individual prosecutors for dismissal with an eye toward affecting corruption cases to benefit Republicans.

Gonzales has said he was not involved in the details of deciding which prosecutors were to be replaced, although his statements have been contradicted in sworn testimony by his former chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson.

Gonzales is scheduled to appear April 17 before the Senate Judiciary Committee in what many view as a make-or-break opportunity to defend his handling of the controversy and try to save his job. The White House has said that Bush still supports Gonzales, a close adviser since the president’s years as governor of Texas, but believes he has to repair his relations with Congress.