Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - Stepping down is best move for Gonzales

Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - Stepping down is best move for Gonzales
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
March 18, 2007
'I think I did make some mistakes," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said on CNN, ratcheting up his previous admission that "mistakes were made" in the controversial firing of eight federal prosecutors. President Bush, whose loyalty to those around him makes him loathe to criticize them, couldn't bring himself to impugn Gonzales. But, he too said, "Mistakes were made." And "I'm frankly not happy about them." The question is, is he unhappy enough to comply with a groundswell of calls for the attorney general's resignation?

We haven't checked the Las Vegas line, but odds are strong that with the Democratic-controlled Congress in an uproar over the firings, and the Justice Department's inconsistent statements about them, Gonzales' days are numbered. It's not just that he "has lost the confidence of the Congress and the American people," as Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire said Wednesday in becoming the first Republican lawmaker to call publicly for his resignation. On Gonzales' watch, the Justice Department as an institution has compromised its integrity by appearing to have politicized a system that must transcend politics to embody democratic principles of justice. True, U.S. attorneys serve at the will of the president, but raw politics must not appear to influence their work.

The president hasn't yet budged from his assertion that the removal of federal prosecutors is a "customary practice." In fact, it is not a new tactic. But the firings now being investigated by Congress came not with the turnover of administrations, not in the first term, but as part of what looks like an agenda to punish lawyers for prosecuting Republicans -- one of those ousted was Carol Lam, who got California Rep. Randy Cunningham sent to jail for corruption -- and push prosecutors to more aggressively investigate Democratic candidates. If, as some argue, Bill Clinton's sweeping removal of prosecutors after he took office was wrong, that doesn't justify the firings being considered here. What's wrong is wrong.

Gonzales has been less than forthcoming in response to questioning about the dismissals. At one point, he said he had so much on his docket he couldn't be expected to know about federal prosecutors getting fired. At one point, someone -- the White House says it's not sure who -- suggested firing all 93 prosecutors. White House adviser Karl Rove rejected that because of fears it would stir up political trouble. If Gonzales' chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, was forced to resign, blamed by his boss for withholding information about the firings from Congress, where does that put the attorney general, whom the president said "mishandled . . . the explanation of the cases to Congress"? Gonzales is the man in charge and the buck should land on his desk.

"I believe that they misled my committee," said Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy, referring to Gonzales and Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty. The process of subpoenaing administration officials has begun. This story is only going to get uglier. Gonzales can mitigate the unpleasantness by stepping down.