MONDAY EXTRA: Another Political Blow to Bush As Gonzales Abruptly Resigns
Embattled Attorney General's Surprise Announcement That He'll Step Down on September 17 Catches Bush Off-Guard After Months of Resisting Bipartisan Demands That He Quit; Reasons For His Sudden Departure Unknown

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announces his resignation during a news conference Monday at the Justice Department headquarters in Washington. (Photo: Jim Bourg/Reuters)
By Matt Apuzzo
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Embattled U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales abruptly resigned Monday — stunning official Washington and ending a nasty, months-long standoff between the White House and Congress over his honesty and competence at the helm of the Justice Department.
Republicans and Democrats alike had demanded his resignation over the botched handling of FBI terror investigations and the highly controversial firings of nine U.S. attorneys, but President Bush had defiantly stood by his Texas friend until he accepted his resignation on Friday.
Gonzales' departure comes just days after White House Press Secretary Tony Snow -- who announced his own resignation a week ago Sunday -- predicted that there would be "a couple" of other high-profile Executive Branch officials stepping down in what observers inside the Beltway say is an accelerating exodus of high-level Republican bigwigs in the Bush administration and in Congress.
Outgoing AG Refuses to Give Reason for His Departure
"It has been one of my greatest privileges to lead the Department of Justice," Gonzales said, announcing his resignation, effective September 17, in a terse statement to reporters a the Justice Department headquarters. He declined to state a reason for his decision to step down and took no questions.
Solicitor General Paul Clement will be acting attorney general until a replacement is found, said administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting the announcement.
Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff was among those mentioned as possible successors. However, a senior administration official said the matter had not been raised with Chertoff. Bush leaves Washington next Monday for Australia, and Gonzales' replacement might not be named by then, the official said.
Democrats Say 'Good Riddance,' Republicans Hope Successor Will Be Better
"Better late than never," said Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, summing up the response of many in Washington to Gonzales' resignation. Republicans reacted cautiously.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who offered only muted support for the attorney general when some Republicans called for Gonzales' resignation, on Monday largely blamed his troubles on Democrats.
"It is my hope that whomever President Bush selects as the next attorney general, he or she is not subjected to the same poisonous partisanship that we've sadly grown accustomed to over the past eight months," McConnell (R-Kentucky) said in a statement.
Gonzales, the former White House counsel who served more than two years at the Justice Department, reflected on his up-from-the-bootstraps life story, the son of migrant farm workers from Mexico who didn't finish elementary school.
"Even my worst days as attorney general have been better than my father's best days," Gonzales said.
Bush Caught Off-Guard After Defiantly Standing By Gonzales for Months
There were indications that Gonzales' departure came suddenly and caught the president off-guard. Bush normally handles Cabinet resignations with efficiency, only allowing news of them to leak when a successor has been chosen and appearing with both the person departing and the replacement when the public announcement was made. That was not to be the case this time, the official said.
Bush steadfastly — and at times angrily — refused to give in to critics, even from his own GOP, who argued that Gonzales should go. Earlier this month at a news conference, the president grew irritated when asked about accountability in his administration and turned the tables on the Democratic Congress.
"Implicit in your questions is that Al Gonzales did something wrong. I haven't seen Congress say he's done anything wrong," Bush said testily.
Gonzales, 52, called Bush on Friday to inform him of his resignation, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to not pre-empt Gonzales' statement. The president had Gonzales come to lunch at his ranch on Sunday as a parting gesture.
Gonzales, whom Bush once considered for appointment to the Supreme Court, is the fourth top-ranking administration official to leave since the November 2006 elections, which saw Democrats take control of Congress.
Donald Rumsfeld, an architect of the Iraq war, resigned as defense secretary one day after the election. Paul Wolfowitz, a former deputy defense secretary under Rumsfeld, agreed in May to step down as president of the World Bank after an ethics inquiry.
And top Bush adviser Karl Rove and White House Press Secretary Snow earlier this month announced within days of each other that they, too, were stepping down.
Departure Unlikely to Stop Probes of U.S. Attorney Firings
Reacting to Monday's developments, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) said that Gonzales' department had "suffered a severe crisis of leadership that allowed our justice system to be corrupted by political influence."
Gonzales could not satisfy critics who said he had lost credibility over the Justice Department's handling of warrantless wiretaps related to the threat of terrorism and the firings of several U.S. attorneys.
As attorney general and earlier as White House counsel, Gonzales pushed for expanded presidential powers, including the eavesdropping authority. He drafted controversial rules for military war tribunals and sought to limit the legal rights of detainees at Guantanamo Bay — prompting lawsuits by civil libertarians who said the government was violating the Constitution in its pursuit of terrorists.
But it was the flap over the fired federal prosecutors that proved to be the final straw for Gonzales, whose truthfulness in testimony to Congress was drawn into question by lawmakers of both parties.
Democrats believe the dismissals of the federal prosecutors appeared to be politically motivated, and some of the fired U.S. attorneys said they felt pressured to investigate Democrats before elections. Gonzales maintained that the dismissals were based the prosecutors' lackluster performance records.
"Alberto Gonzales was never the right man for this job. He lacked independence, he lacked judgment, and he lacked the spine to say no to Karl Rove," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada). "This resignation is not the end of the story. Congress must get to the bottom of this mess and follow the facts where they lead, into the White House."
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Volume II, Number 43
Monday News Extra Copyright 2007, The Associated Press.
The 'Skeeter Bites Report Copyright 2007, Skeeter Sanders. All rights reserved.
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