Could
Be Game Over for Gonzales
By Kristen Schuh
Staff
Writer
One
lonely cardboard box is now the home of the contents
of your once-corner office. Staplers, pictures of
your family, and framed diplomas fill the box. You
climbed the career ladder for this? All of those years
you slaved over the books while your friends were
out celebrating their 21st birthdays, fraternity/sorority
events, and college homecoming weekends you wonder
if they were a waste. Yesterday you were on top of
the world, today you are unemployed. What went wrong?
How can someone so highly regarded in their field
lose their job? The answer is they were United States
attorneys working under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
Many leading Democrats and Republicans have joined
together to call for the resignation of Gonzales.
According to Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Gonzales
has, “engaged in an unprecedented breach of trust
and abuse of power.” Schumer continues his criticism
of Gonzales by saying Gonzales has, “either forgotten
the oath he took to uphold the Constitution or doesn’t
understand that his duty to uphold the law is greater
than his duty to protect the president,” continues
Schumer.
The accusation of Gonzales’ unlawful behavior stems
from the recent firings of eight U.S. attorneys, six
of whom had positive ratings in internal Justice Department
performance reports. The debate over Gonzales’ future
as attorney general lies not in the fact that these
individuals were let go, but in the underlying reasons
why. For example, just nine months before John McKay’s
job was on the line, the Washington attorney was evaluated
as being an, “effective, well-regarded and capable
leader.
”
Critics of Gonzales have claimed the dismissals were
either motivated by desire to install attorneys more
loyal to the Republican Party and the Bush administration,
or as retribution for actions damaging to the party.
According to David Iglesias, one of the fired attorneys,
in an interview with CBS’ Katie Couric, “I believe
I was fired because I did not play ball with two members
of the Republican delegation here in New Mexico. I
did not give them privileged information that could
have been used in the October and November time frame.”
On Thursday, April 19, Alberto Gonzales appeared before
the Senate Judiciary Committee in what Senator Arlen
Specter (R-PA) called “a reconfirmation hearing.”
The Committee’s ranking member informed Gonzales that
he bears a “heavy burden of proof” to reestablish
his credibility, his ability to continue leading the
justice department, and to justify the replacement
of the attorneys. The committee’s chairman, Senator
Patrick Leahy (D-VT), opened the hearing by stating
that the Justice Department under Gonzales “is experiencing
a crisis of leadership perhaps unrivaled during its
137 year history.” Leahy continued with a warning
to the current administration and those to follow
when he said, “the Department of Justice should never
be reduced to another political aim of the White House-this
White House or any White House.”
In Gonzales’ opening statement he apologized to the
attorneys and their families saying, “I regret how
they were treated, and I apologize to them and to
their families for allowing this matter to become
an unfortunate and undignified public spectacle.”
Although he stated he “accepts full responsibility
for this,” he says he will only resign if he felt
as if he could no longer be effective.
According to a recent Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg
Poll, 53% of Americans do not agree with Gonzales,
and they want him gone. Backlash against Gonzales
has also come from members of his own party including
former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Senator
John Sununu (R-NH), Gordon Smith (R-OR), and presidential
candidate Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado. Even under
the scrutiny of his own party, Gonzales is staying
put. “I have admitted mistakes in managing this issue,
but the department as a general matter has not been
mismanaged. We’ve done great things,” says Gonzales.
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