Gonzales Resigns
White House photo/Eric Draper
Updated: Calling Alberto Gonzales “a man of integrity, decency and principle,” President Bush announced this morning that he has reluctantly accepted the attorney general’s resignation.
U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement will serve as acting attorney general after Gonzales’ resignation on Sept. 17, Bush said.
Gonzales has been buffeted by allegations that the U.S. Justice Department engaged in politically motivated hiring and firing. Critics also questioned whether Gonzales testified truthfully before Congress about controversy surrounding a National Security Agency surveillance program.
Bush said Gonzales endured “months of unfair treatment” and his “good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons.”
The controversy was impeding Gonzales’ work, he said.
Updated: Calling Alberto Gonzales “a man of integrity, decency and principle,” President Bush announced this morning that he has reluctantly accepted the attorney general’s resignation.
U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement will serve as acting attorney general after Gonzales’ resignation on Sept. 17, Bush said.
Gonzales has been buffeted by allegations that the U.S. Justice Department engaged in politically motivated hiring and firing. Critics also questioned whether Gonzales testified truthfully before Congress about controversy surrounding a National Security Agency surveillance program.
Bush said Gonzales endured “months of unfair treatment” and that his name was “dragged through the mud for political reasons.” The controversy was impeding Gonzales’ work, he said.
Bush said that as attorney general and White House counsel, Gonzales was instrumental in shaping the administration’s war on terror and helped obtain the confirmation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s two newest justices, John G. Roberts Jr. and Samuel A. Alito Jr.
Gonzales did not explain the reason for his resignation in a brief statement he read this morning. He thanked Justice Department employees for their service to the nation and said he has been privileged to serve as their leader. A copy of his Aug. 26 resignation letter to Bush is provided by the Wall Street Journal.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff will likely be nominated to replace Gonzales, according to CNN’s Political Ticker blog.
Other possible replacements are Christopher Cox, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and former deputy attorney Larry Thompson, according to the New York Times. A senior administration official told the Times that it was Gonzales’ decision to resign. The newspaper is credited with breaking the news of the resignation.
Gonzales said he told Bush of his decision in person yesterday.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer called the resignation “the right thing to do.”
“It took a long time, but there is no question about it that the Justice Department is virtually nonfunctional,” he told CNN. Schumer has been calling for Gonzales’ resignation for months, the Times reports.
Originally posted at 08:27 AM on 08-27-2007.
