[Dialogue] Editorial Pages Call for Axing Attorney General

[Harry Wainwright]

Published on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 by Editor
<http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_conten
t_id=1003557783> & Publisher 

Editorial Pages Call for Axing Attorney General 

by E&P Staff 

 

NEW YORK -- The New York Times got the editorial ball rolling on Monday,
calling for the firing of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales due largely, if
not completely, to the burgeoning scandal involving the forced departure of
eight U.S. attorneys. Now the notion has spread across the country.

"We haven't seen a renegade U.S. Justice Department like this since John
Mitchell ran it for President Nixon," declared the Sacremento Bee. "With a
new Congress beginning to exercise serious oversight, the problems at the
Justice Department and with its leader, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales,
are becoming clearer by the day. And what is becoming most clear is that
Gonzales must go."

The Washington Post today implied the same thing. The Los Angeles Times
agreed but placed much of the blame on President Bush. The Philadephia
Inquirer demanded: "U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales should resign.
If he ever does, the nation could take it as a clear sign that President
Bush finally grasps the need to preserve core civil liberties while guarding
against terrorism."

The Buffalo (N.Y.) News: "He should go. The country needs an attorney
general who wants to uphold the law, not subvert it."

>From Florida Today in Melbourne: "He should be removed and replaced with
someone willing to protect the Constitution. Chances are Bush won't do
that."

The Financial Times weighed in: "Mr. Gonzales had every right to sack
prosecutors, who are political appointees. But he had no right to mislead
Congress about why he did so - even though he is now blaming lower officals
for the misinformation. Mr Gonzales has shown a disdain for Congress and the
rights of the American people. He has amply proved that he will never be
anything other than Mr Bush's lawyer - a mere apologist for the imperial
presidency. The affair has already claimed one top scalp at the justice
department. It is high time Mr Gonzales stepped down too."

The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky. urged President Bush to take two
steps: "First, he should fire Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Whether Mr.
Gonzales is the instigator of this travesty or merely the unprincipled
executor of White House political demands, this debacle is further evidence
of his insuitability for his critically sensitive post.

"Then, the president can answer this question: If the eight prosecutors were
dismissed for failing to respond to Republican political concerns, can
Americans assume that his other U.S. attorneys do fulfill a partisan
agenda?"

The Bush-friendly Dallas Morning News came close to calling for Gonzales'
exit, but more for the alleged abuse of the Patriot Act revealed in the
recent revelations about the FBI. Sen. John Cornyn told Morning News
editorial board Monday that he was "disappointed" in Gonzales' performance,
adding that there's a perception that he has not drawn an adequate firewall
between his office and the White House.

"Frankly, we think the problem is real, not a perception," the newspaper
observed. "It demands much more than apologies from FBI Director Robert
Mueller and Mr. Gonzales - starting with tough questioning from the Senate
Judiciary Committee. The nation's two top cops should know that aggressive
law enforcement and due process aren't mutually exclusive. If they think
otherwise, then they're not the right individuals for these jobs."

The Chicago Tribune also falls short of calling for a dismissal for now. But
it closes its editorial: "This is a fast-evolving story, with crucial events
and motives still to be probed and explained, by the administration and the
Congress. As the facts of this disturbing but still incomplete narrative
come together, we're likely as a nation to learn if the answer to the
question that opens this editorial is yes or no. If it's yes, Gonzales
should resign. "

That opening question: "Did the attorney general of the United States,
Alberto Gonzales, engineer the dismissals of several federal prosecutors for
partisan political reasons?"

Gonzales said at a press conference on Tuesday that he would not quit,
although he accepted responsibility for how the attorney layoff was handled.

The Washington Post editorial, "The Story Unravels," concludes:

"Now that the political costs are higher than the administration could have
imagined, now that senior officials have squandered their claim to
credibility, it is imperative that the entire story of the firings be
uncovered. As we have said previously, the administration is entitled to
prosecutors who reflect its policies and carry out its priorities. It is not
entitled to treat federal prosecutors like political pawns -- nor is it
entitled, any longer, to the benefit of the doubt about the propriety of its
conduct.

"Mr. Gonzales can make self-serving declarations about his belief in
'accountability,' as he did at a news conference yesterday; he can proclaim
his plans to 'ascertain what happened here . . . and take corrective
actions.' Nothing in his record gives any reason for confidence that
anything will change in a department under his leadership."

The Los Angeles Times agrees but also casts its eyes higher:

"It should surprise no one that Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales finds himself
in the middle of a growing scandal. But don't blame him for the lack of
principled leadership at the Justice Department. Blame his boss. President
Bush appointed a man clearly unqualified for the job.

"We opposed Gonzales' nomination to be attorney general two years ago,
arguing that the nation's top law enforcement job should go to someone who
understands the limits as well as the power of the law, and someone who
understands that his loyalty is to the Constitution as much as it is to the
president. Gonzales' atrocious performance as White House counsel, when he
enabled far too many shortcuts in the war on terror, was ample reason to
disqualify him for attorney general.

"This attorney general is loyal to a fault to Bush. He is too loyal to be an
effective lawyer, causing the president harm both when he worked at the
White House and now that he oversees the Justice Department.

'The administration's broader disdain for legal niceties underlies recent
revelations about the abuse of Patriot Act powers to secretly obtain private
data about U.S. citizens, as well as the dismissal of U.S. attorneys. In the
case of these prosecutors, Gonzales was apparently driven by his desire to
continue making himself useful to the president and the party. That's why
his chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson, resigned Monday. He was working a
little too closely with the White House in orchestrating the ouster of
several federal prosecutors late last year....

"The fact that the White House was complaining to the Justice Department
that David Iglesias, the well-regarded federal prosecutor in New Mexico, was
insufficiently committed to taking up voter fraud cases that Republicans
cared deeply about is rather alarming. Alarming, but not surprising - not so
long as Gonzales is attorney general." 

C 2007 Copyright The Nielsen Company

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