US President George W. Bush on Monday reaffirmed his confidence in embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales after widely panned congressional testimony last week.
"The attorney general went up and gave a very candid assessment and answered every question he could possibly answer, honestly answer. And in a way that increased my confidence in his ability to do the job," Bush said.
Prominent Democrats and even some of the president's Republican allies have called for the resignation of Gonzales, who has been embroiled in a controversy over a mass firing of federal prosecutors in late 2006.
"As the investigation or the hearings went forward, it was clear that the attorney general broke no law, did no wrongdoing," Bush told reporters.
"And some senators didn't like his explanation, but he answered as honestly as he could. And this is an honest, honorable man in whom I have confidence," said the president.
Critics have charged that the eight US attorneys were dumped for political, rather than judicial, reasons.
In his testimony last week, Gonzales drew fire from Democrats and Republicans for repeatedly insisting that he could not recall his role in key parts of the decision to remove the prosecutors.
