Rock Hill Herald Logo

Gonzales exit means Justice under repair | Rock Hill Herald

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
  • Customer Service
  • Mobile & Apps
  • Newsletters
  • Archives

    • All News
    • Local News
    • Local Traffic Cam
    • North Carolina
    • South Carolina
    • Business
    • Education
    • NIE
    • Crime
    • More News
    • Andrew Dys
    • Nation/World
    • Politics/Government
    • Weird News
    • Databases
    • Down Home Magazine
    • Physicians Directory
    • Fort Mill Times
    • Fort Mill Times Sports
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Submit a Letter to the Editor
    • All Sports
    • Panthers
    • College
    • Winthrop
    • High School
    • High School Football
    • Auto Racing
    • Politics
    • Elections
  • Obituaries
    • All Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Submit a Letter
    • To the Contrary
    • James Werrell
    • Palmetto Opinion
    • All Living
    • Community
    • Weddings
    • Engagements
    • Anniversaries
    • Births
    • Religion
    • Family
    • Home & Garden
    • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Books
    • Calendar
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Rewards
    • Horoscopes

  • Legals
  • Cars
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Virtual Career Fair
  • Homes
  • Classifieds

Local

Gonzales exit means Justice under repair

By Marisa Taylor and Margaret Talev - Marisa Taylor and Margaret Talev

    ORDER REPRINT →

August 28, 2007 12:13 AM

WASHINGTON -- With the resignation Monday of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the Bush administration faces its most daunting task: repairing the reputation of a Justice Department reeling from the controversy over the firings of nine U.S. attorneys last year.

After months of damaging disclosures about his competency and congressional scrutiny of his leadership, Gonzales announced that he'd be leaving Sept. 17 but offered little explanation for the timing.

With no immediate replacement named by the White House, legal experts said the administration needed to select a new attorney general with significant legal experience and an unassailable reputation to end the criticism that had undermined the department since January.

"The Bush administration needs to pick someone from the outside who unquestionably will be seen as independent," said Erwin Chemerinsky, a law professor at Duke University.

SIGN UP

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

Among the names floated as permanent replacements are Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Solicitor General Paul Clement, who was tapped as acting attorney general.

But Democrats warned the White House that Congress might not confirm Chertoff, whose tenure was marred by botched recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina.

Gonzales' departure is another blow to a White House that's struggled to regain its footing in the face of an unpopular war in Iraq and elections last fall that swept Republican majorities out of both houses of Congress.

Gonzales, the first Hispanic to serve as attorney general, was one of President Bush's closest advisers and an enabling force behind the administration's controversial policies on torture, domestic spying and the scope of presidential power.

In a brief statement, Gonzales didn't elaborate on his resignation or respond to questions. His voice quavered as he spoke of his rise from the son of poor Mexican immigrants to the top federal law-enforcement official.

"I have lived the American dream," he said. "Even my worst days as attorney general have been better than my father's best days."

The timing of his resignation allowed him to leave on perhaps as high a note as the White House could hope for. The congressional investigation into the firings essentially has stalled with Bush's claims of executive privilege, leaving Democrats with the option of a risky court fight. Gonzales also waited until Bush's political adviser Karl Rove, whom Democrats saw as the more enticing target of their inquiry, had announced his own departure, giving Rove what amounted to political cover until the end.

Congressional leaders said that even with Gonzales gone, they had no intention of dropping their investigations into the controversies that ensnared him, from the prosecutors' firings to the administration's controversial and still secretive surveillance of Americans.

For months, the White House had insisted that Gonzales wasn't going anywhere. On Monday, Bush said he'd reluctantly accepted his attorney general's resignation after "months of unfair treatment."

"It's sad that we live in a time when a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeded from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons," Bush said in an appearance in Waco, Texas.

Several lawmakers and aides from both parties said they had no knowledge of any specific discovery or turn in the investigation that would have prompted the resignation.

Two congressional aides familiar with the probes into the Justice Department, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said Gonzales' departure came as lawmakers were preparing to push for additional information about the administration's wiretapping program, including more of FBI director Robert Mueller's private notes about the controversy.

Lawmakers said Mueller's notes might further contradict Gonzales' sworn testimony or show a fuller picture of the attorney general's role in surveillance programs, both in his past role as White House counsel and as attorney general.

Some analysts said a resignation had almost become inevitable because Gonzales had turned into a major political liability.

"The question wasn't whether he would go but when he would go," said Kenneth Sherrill, a political science professor at Hunter College. "As long as he was a target, the entire administration was weakened, and the ongoing controversy could be used to discredit anything that came out of the White House or Justice Department."

White House officials said Gonzales had talked over the decision with his wife over the last several months and concluded it was in the best interest of the department. He called the president Friday and offered his resignation, the officials said.

Almost from the beginning of the war on terrorism, he'd been a magnet for controversy, overseeing nearly every policy criticized for expanding presidential power or minimizing civil liberties.

Gonzales' legal career rose with Bush's political trajectory: as a Texas Supreme Court justice, White House counsel and, since February 2005, the nation's chief law enforcement officer. Bush once eyed his friend as a potential nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Among the names floated as permanent replacements as attorney general are Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Solicitor General Paul Clement, who was tapped as acting attorney general.

Who's next?

  Comments  

Videos

Listen: York County Sheriff releases 911 audio from Rock Hill triple shooting

York County Sheriffs looking for ‘armed and dangerous’ suspect in Rock Hill shootings

View More Video

Trending Stories

We’ve canceled the ‘Non Sequitur’ comic strip in The Herald and want you to know why

February 15, 2019 12:23 PM

Gamecock great Rick Sanford joins Kornblut’s new statewide SportsTalk show

February 16, 2019 12:13 PM

USPS helps bust up marijuana ring that connected SC to California, police say

February 16, 2019 03:08 PM

‘Living legend’ Friendship 9 member back at Rock Hill sit-in counter had this to say

February 16, 2019 03:09 PM

Dale Earnhardt Jr. mourns death of NASCAR artist who painted portraits of his dad

February 16, 2019 04:39 PM

Read Next

Here’s what’s happening in York, Lancaster and Chester counties

Local

Here’s what’s happening in York, Lancaster and Chester counties

By Barbara Barkley

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 16, 2019 08:21 PM

This week’s events in York County

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE LOCAL

USPS helps bust up marijuana ring that connected SC to California, police say

Crime

USPS helps bust up marijuana ring that connected SC to California, police say

February 16, 2019 03:08 PM
‘Living legend’ Friendship 9 member back at Rock Hill sit-in counter had this to say

Local

‘Living legend’ Friendship 9 member back at Rock Hill sit-in counter had this to say

February 16, 2019 03:09 PM
‘Please hurry:’ Police release emotional 911 audio from Rock Hill triple shooting

Crime

‘Please hurry:’ Police release emotional 911 audio from Rock Hill triple shooting

February 15, 2019 03:52 PM
Teen charged in Rock Hill sexual assault found driving woman’s stolen car, police say

Crime

Teen charged in Rock Hill sexual assault found driving woman’s stolen car, police say

February 15, 2019 08:51 AM
We’ve canceled the ‘Non Sequitur’ comic strip in The Herald and want you to know why

Latest News

We’ve canceled the ‘Non Sequitur’ comic strip in The Herald and want you to know why

February 15, 2019 12:23 PM
Fort Mill greenway visitors left with almost $10,000 in credit card charges, police say

Crime

Fort Mill greenway visitors left with almost $10,000 in credit card charges, police say

February 14, 2019 12:41 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Rock Hill Herald App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Advertising Information
  • Place Obituary, Celebration
  • Place Classified, Legal
  • Local Deals
Copyright
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story