Bush Backs Gonzales
in Face of
No-Confidence Vote
By DAVID STOUT,
NYTimes on the Web, May 24, 2007
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Doug Mills/ The New York Times
Senator
Charles E. Schumer, center, with Senators Dianne Feinstein, right,
and Sheldon Whitehouse during a news conference today |
WASHINGTON, -- President Bush
once more reaffirmed his confidence in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales
today, while Senate Democrats offered a resolution declaring that they have no
confidence in him.
“I’ve got confidence in Al Gonzales doing the job,” Mr. Bush said at a White
House news conference after he was asked if he was worried about “the cumulative
picture” of the Justice Department that is emerging following the dismissals of
United States attorneys and whether the president could assure the American
people that the department is “delivering impartial justice.”
Mr. Bush has reaffirmed his support for Mr. Gonzales, an old friend from Texas,
every time he has been asked. But today’s question-and-answer session came
a day after Monica M. Goodling, a former Justice Department official who acted
as a department liaison with the White House, acknowledged that she “crossed the
line” in weighing the political beliefs of prospects for nonpolitical jobs at
the Justice Department.
Mr. Bush noted that the Justice Department is conducting its own internal
investigation of possible improprieties related to the dismissals of United
States attorneys last year. “This will be an exhaustive investigation,” he
said. “And if there’s wrongdoing, it will be taken care of.”
Shortly after the president spoke in the Rose Garden of the White House,
Senators Charles E. Schumer, Dianne Feinstein of California and Sheldon
Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Democrats who are on the Senate Judiciary Committee,
released the text of a resolution declaring no confidence in Mr. Gonzales.
The measure, which would be symbolic and nonbinding, is expected to be
introduced on the Senate floor after the Memorial Day recess. It declares
that it is the sense of the Senate that Mr. Gonzales no longer enjoys the
confidence of the American people.
“We full intend to bring this vote, we expect it to pass, and for the good of
the Justice Department and the rule of law in this country, we believe it is the
right thing to do,” Mr. Schumer said.
Ms. Feinstein said Mr. Gonzales was “clearly not a strong leader,” while Mr.
Whitehouse, himself a former United States attorney, said he was dismayed to
watch the Justice Department’s tradition of fairness and impartiality
“systematically destroyed or degraded.”
The three senators cited Wednesday’s testimony by Ms. Goodling.
Ms. Goodling, who testified under a grant of immunity before the House Judiciary
Committee, appeared to contradict Mr. Gonzales, who told the committee earlier
that he had not spoken to senior department aides since the dismissals “to
protect the integrity of the investigation.”
But Ms. Goodling told the panel that at a meeting in March, just before she
resigned, Mr. Gonzales asked her questions that made her uncomfortable, as
though he was trying to coach her so their accounts would be consistent.
(The Justice Department issued a statement on Wednesday saying that Mr. Gonzales
was only trying to comfort Ms. Goodling in the difficult time before her
departure.)
Mr. Bush said the continuing investigations on Capitol Hill are just acts in a
“grand political theater,” and he urged the lawmakers to turn their attention to
“passing legislation that is meaningful for the country.”
The president seemed to brush aside any suggestion that Mr. Gonzales had been
less than forthcoming. “Attorney General Gonzales has testified; he
produced documents,” Mr. Bush said, calling on the House and Senate to “move
expeditiously to finish their hearings.”
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