Washington – Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, fighting to save his job, said in prepared Senate testimony Sunday he has “nothing to hide” in the firings of eight federal prosecutors but claimed a hazy memory about his involvement in them.
Two Republican senators said Gonzales has yet to shore up his credibility amid shifting explanations of his role in the dismissals. Vice President Dick Cheney reaffirmed White House support for the attorney general – but left it to Gonzales to defend himself to lawmakers who have called for his resignation.
In his 25-page statement, Gonzales apologized for embarrassing the eight U.S. attorneys and their families by letting their ousters erupt into a political fire storm that has engulfed the Justice Department since January. He maintained that the firings were not improper but said he remembers having only an indirect role in the plans beyond approving them.
“I have nothing to hide, and I am committed to assuring the Congress and the American public that nothing improper occurred here,” Gonzales said in prepared testimony released before he appears Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The panel, which oversees the Justice Department, is investigating whether the firings were politically motivated.
“I am sorry for my missteps that have helped to fuel the controversy,” he said. “In hindsight, I would have handled this differently. … It is clear to me that I should have done more personally to ensure that the review process was more rigorous, and that each U.S. attorney was informed of this decision in a more personal and respectful way.”
Cheney said he and President Bush continue to have “every confidence” in Gonzales and looked forward to hearing his testimony. Lawmakers also are questioning what role White House officials, including chief political strategist Karl Rove, played in the firings.
“This took place inside the Justice Department,” Cheney said on “Face the Nation” on CBS. “The one who needs to answer to that and lay out on the record the specifics of what transpired is the attorney general, and he’ll do so.”
GOP Sens. Arlen Specter and Lindsey Graham said Gonzales has a difficult battle ahead in convincing the public he can lead the Justice Department.
“The No. 1 question is, is he capable of administering the Department of Justice; did he have enough hands on to know what’s happening?” said Specter of Pennsylvania, the Senate panel’s top Republican. “Can he explain why these individuals were asked to resign and justify the reasons for doing so?”
Graham, R-S.C., said he believes Gonzales can save his job. Still, the attorney general has “an uphill struggle to re-establish his credibility with the committee, given prior statements.”
In his written testimony, Gonzales said he vaguely remembers discussions about the firings but indicated he trusted his most senior aides to select prosecutors who would be asked to resign, based on their performance.
“It was to be a group of officials, including the deputy attorney general, who were much more knowledgeable than I about the performance of each U.S. attorney,” he said.
But Gonzales indicated he could not definitively say whether he was involved in decisions on selecting which prosecutors would be targeted. The few, brief updates on the firings he received from Kyle Sampson, his former chief of staff, “focused primarily on the review process itself,” Gonzales said.
Sampson left the Justice Department over the controversy March 12.
