Embattled US Attorney General resigns
US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, under fire from congressional Democrats, has resigned, senior Bush administration officials said today.
A senior Justice Department official said a likely temporary replacement for Gonzales was Solicitor General Paul Clement, who would take over until a permanent replacement was found.
Another official said Gonzales had submitted a resignation letter on Friday.
The officials declined to be identified because the formal announcement about Gonzales was still pending.
The Justice Department planned a news conference for 10.30am (3.30pm Irish time) in Washington. President George Bush was expected to discuss Gonzales’ departure at his Crawford, Texas, ranch before leaving on a trip to western states.
A long-time friend of Bush, who once considered him for appointment to the Supreme Court, Gonzales is the fourth high-ranking administration official to leave since November 2006.
Donald Rumsfeld, an architect of the Iraq war, resigned as defense secretary one day after the November elections. Paul Wolfowitz agreed in May to step down as president of the World Bank after an ethics inquiry. Top Bush adviser Karl Rove earlier this month also announced he was stepping down.
A frequent Democratic target, Gonzales could not satisfy critics who said he had lost credibility over the Justice Department’s botched handling of warrantless wiretaps related to the threat of terrorism and the firings of several US 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.
