Gonzales changes story, but insists he did nothing wrong
 US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales argued Sunday he did nothing improper in firing eight federal prosecutors, despite charges the attorneys had been let go for political reasons.
"I know that I did not -- and would not -- ask for the resignation of any US attorney for an improper reason," Gonzales wrote in The Washington Post Sunday.
"Furthermore, I have no basis to believe that anyone involved in this process sought the removal of a US attorney for an improper reason," he continued.
Gonzales backtracked from earlier statements that he was uninvolved in the process of firing US attorneys.
"While I have never sought to deceive Congress or the American people, I also know that I created confusion with some of my recent statements about my role in this matter," he wrote. "To be clear: I directed my then-deputy chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, to initiate this process; fully knew that it was occurring; and approved the final recommendations. Sampson periodically updated me on the review. As I recall, his updates were brief, relatively few in number and focused primarily on the review process."
But he insisted that during his conversations with Sampson, he "did not make decisions about who should or should not be asked to resign."
In the editorial, Gonzales invoked terrorism, saying that Department of Justice has "made great strides in securing our country from terrorism, protecting our neighborhoods from gangs and drugs, shielding our children from predators and pedophiles, and protecting the public trust by prosecuting public corruption" and the attorney firing scandal must not distract from those aims.
Gonzales is set to give his testimony on the matter before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, where the attorney general promised that he is "committed to explaining my role in this process and will do so."
READ THE FULL OP-ED AT THE WASHINGTON POST HERE
With wire reports.
|
