Thread: Gonzales Defends Move to Fire Attorneys

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Gonzales Defends Move to Fire
Attorneys, Denies Political Role
By EVAN PEREZ
March 6, 2007; Page A4

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, facing criticism for the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, defended the action as appropriate but said the Justice Department handled the situation poorly.

"We could have rolled out the decisions more smoothly," he said in an interview. But he also rejected accusations from Democrats and other critics that the prosecutors were fired for failing to follow the Bush administration's political agenda.


"To think we made these changes to retaliate or because they didn't carry out certain prosecutions?" he said. "That did not occur here. I stand by the decision to make the changes."

The tempest has been the latest imbroglio for the Justice Department and Mr. Gonzales, a longtime Bush friend and former White House counsel who has defended the administration's often-controversial law-enforcement programs, from domestic surveillance to the treatment of enemy combatants.

Part of the problem is the Justice Department's contention that the Dec. 7 dismissals were performance related, which came after initial suggestions that the moves were normal turnover. That switch has prompted protests from some of those let go. Some have taken to referring to the firings as the "Pearl Harbor Day Massacre." And some of have said they wouldn't have protested the moves otherwise.

Internal Justice Department documents, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, show evaluations offering positive reviews for all the prosecutors' work as recently as last March. Mr. Gonzales said the written reviews were among several factors the department used to evaluate prosecutors, which include numbers and types of prosecutions and management issues.

"It should never have come to this," said John McKay, former U.S. attorney for the Seattle-based western district of Washington, who was among those fired and is now an adjunct law professor at the Seattle University law school. "I resigned quietly and left. But when they started saying it was for 'performance reasons,' I couldn't keep quiet any more."

The situation has put Democrats in the unusual role of championing the cause of Republican appointees to batter the administration. Indeed, many of the ousted prosecutors remain loyal to President Bush and Mr. Gonzales, and blame Republican party operatives for giving the two men bad advice.

Today, committees in the House and Senate are holding hearings in which four of the fired prosecutors are scheduled to testify.

In prepared testimony, Carol Lam, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, planned to read a statement on behalf of the group, saying, "Each of us was fully aware that we served at the pleasure of the President, and that we could be removed for any or no reason. In most of our cases, we were given little or no information about the reason for the request for our resignations."

The Justice Department said lawmakers had complained about some of the prosecutors. New Mexico Republican Sen. Pete Domenici said this weekend that he had sought the removal of David Iglesias, the U.S. attorney in his state, and had called him to inquire about the status of a corruption probe involving local Democrats.

Yesterday, Michael Battle, director of the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys, who requested the resignations, announced his own resignation. He said he plans to enter the private sector and that his departure had nothing to do with the firings.

Democrats initially claimed the administration was using a little-noticed clause in the Patriot Act to circumvent Senate confirmation for some of the interim replacements who otherwise might not be able to pass muster with the new Democratic majority. There is no fixed term for U.S. attorneys. They typically are appointed at the beginning of a new president's term and serve throughout.

Mr. Gonzales denied any political motivation for the moves. "I made recommendations to the president" that the changes be made, he said. "Ultimately, these are presidential appointees."

Write to Evan Perez at evan.perez@wsj.com

Gonzalez is another scumbag that needs to be under investigation. Too bad he's not eligible for deportation.

Maybe criminal charges. Put him and Johnny Sutton away!