From LOU DOBBS Friday March 2--

PILGRIM: U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales today defended the prosecution of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. Incredibly, Gonzales claims the agents had the opportunity to present the facts of their case to a jury. But as Casey Wian reports, the jury never heard all of those facts.

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CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says he supports the Border Patrol.

ALBERTO GONZALES, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Let me just say, border agents, they do a tremendous job for the American people. Securing our borders under very difficult circumstances, and they should be applauded.

WIAN: But apparently not these Border Patrol agents. Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were prosecuted by the Justice Department for shooting and wounding Oscar Aldrete-Davila, an illegal alien Mexican drug smuggler. Aldrete-Davila was given immunity by a Gonzales subordinate, Texas U.S. attorney Johnny Sutton, to testify against the agents.

GONZALES: I have a great deal of confidence in the federal prosecutor to handle this case, Johnny Sutton, who worked with Governor Bush back in our days in Texas.

WIAN: Congressman Ted Poe is a former Texan judge.

REP. TED POE (R), TEXAS: It's always a truism at the courthouse, when the prosecution makes deals with criminals, their testimony is suspect.

WIAN: Sutton's prosecutors prevented the jury from hearing evidence that Aldrete-Davila had a history of drug smuggling, evidence that could have damaged the credibility of the prosecution's key witness against the agents.

REP. DANA ROHRABACHER (R), CALIFORNIA: Sutton chose to disregard the information, despite the evidence provided by the DEA. Sutton's continuous attempts to paint a benign picture of the drug smuggler is not only disingenuous, but it amounts to misleading the jury and the public.

GONZALES: There's a lot out there, a lot of misinformation out there about what happened in this particular case, but the agents had the opportunity to present the facts to a jury in Texas, and the jury concluded that, in fact, these two agents broke the law. And people in law enforcement who break the law should be held accountable. No question about it. And that's what's happening here.

WIAN: Gonzales refused to take follow-up questions on why his prosecutors kept key information from the jury, including the Aldrete- Davila's drug-smuggling history, escalating violence on the Mexican border, and other evidence that could have helped exonerate agents Ramos and Compean.

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WIAN: Congressman Duncan Hunter's bill to pardon the agents now has 90 co-sponsors, including four Democrats. The latest Democrat to sign on this week is Lincoln Davis of Tennessee -- Kitty.

PILGRIM: So that effort is gaining momentum, Casey?

WIAN: It absolutely is gaining momentum. There's a lot more pressure from many members of Congress to hold hearings, to investigate the many questions in this case.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, on the Senate side of California, another Democrat, wants to hold hearings on this case. We don't have a date yet, but her office says those hearings will come.