Washington – Two members of Colorado’s congressional delegation sharply criticized Attorney General Alberto Gonzales today as the embattled attorney general faced increasing calls for his resignation over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys.
Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar and Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo both spoke critically of Gonzales, with Tancredo calling for his resignation. Salazar stopped just short of calling for the ouster of his friend Gonzales, but stepped up his rhetoric significantly from last week, when he refused to join other Democrats in condemning the attorney general.
“If Attorney General Gonzales has indeed crossed this line, then he has forfeited his right to lead the Department of Justice,” Salazar said on the Senate floor today. “I am disappointed that the Department of Justice may have blurred the line between representation of President Bush and representation of the people of the Untied States.”
Salazar, a former Colorado attorney general, made his comments despite being a personal friend of Gonzales, who he supported during his nomination to lead the Department of Justice.
He said he also plans to introduce legislation that would make it a crime, punishable by one year in jail or a fine, to coerce a U.S. attorney into commencing a criminal investigation or prosecution.
Critics of the administration have claimed that the U.S. attorneys were fired to place Bush supporters in office, although the Justice Department countered that the attorneys were dismissed for inadequate performance.
The fired U.S. attorneys also testified on Capitol Hill last week that they were pressured by Bush supporters in Congress to speed up criminal investigations considered important to the administration.
Tancredo not only criticized Gonzales for the ongoing U.S. attorneys scandal, but slammed him for immigration policies such as prosecuting border agents for shooting at a vehicle carrying illegal immigrants.
“Gonzales’ legacy at the Department of Justice has been one of misplaced priorities, political miscalculation, and a failure to enforce the laws which he has sworn to uphold. I think that it is time for him to move on,” Tancredo said.
The comments came on a day when President Bush phoned Gonzales to offer his support, despite a 94-2 vote in the U.S. Senate stripping a Patriot Act provision allowing the administration to fire U.S. attorneys without Senate approval.
At a press briefing today, White House spokesman Tony Snow said Bush’s phone call was a “very strong vote of confidence” in Gonzales.
