LAWFUEL -The US Law Newswire – U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales drew fire at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday where lawmakers challenged his truthfulness and ability to lead his scandal-rocked Justice Department, Reuters report.
“The attorney general’s lost the confidence of the Congress and the American people,” said Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat. He described the department as “shrouded in scandal,” and told Gonzales: “I don’t trust you.”
“It looks to me … as if the department is dysfunctional,” added Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the committee’s ranking Republican and a leading critic of Gonzales, particularly for his firing of nine federal prosecutors.
“What keeps you in the job, Mr. Attorney General?” asked Sen. Herbert Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat.
“I have decided to stay and fix the problems,” replied Gonzales, whose department has been battered by allegations that politics played a role in hiring practices and the administration of justice.
Gonzales, with the support of President George W. Bush, has rejected calls to resign in recent months from Democrats as well as some fellow Republicans in Congress.
