Free Republic

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales late Friday declined to provide more information about discrepancies in his sworn testimony about the purge of federal prosecutors and its aftermath. Critics say the differences indicate that he misled Congress about his department's purge of federal prosecutors, but Gonzales has denied that. Still, Gonzales' refusal to clarify the inconsistencies increases the likelihood that lawmakers of both parties will seek ways to pry him from office. In a two-page letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, Gonzales reiterated his position that alleged violations of the USA Patriot Act were mistakes rather civil...

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department will not try to prevent Congress from granting immunity to a former department official to testify about the firing of eight federal prosecutors. In a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich., officials from two Justice Department offices investigating whether the department played politics when hiring prosecutors said they would prefer not to see the department's former White House liaison, Monica Goodling, given immunity. "However, we understand the committee's interest in obtaining Ms. Goodling's testimony," the letter said. "Therefore after balancing the significant public interest against the impact of...

History is an excellent antidote for hysteria. All the huffing and puffing over the Bush Administration's firing of eight U.S. Attorneys might be tempered by an awareness that Bush's predecessor, President Bill Clinton, summarily fired all 93 U.S. Attorneys on a single day, March 23, 1993. (1) (2) Why the Clinton Administration initiated this unprecedented purge has never been adequately investigated. For the convenience of future historians, we offer here a full list of the 93 U.S. Attorneys whose resignations the Clinton administration demanded: U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama (usdoj.gov) James Eldon Wilson (1987-1994), replaced by Charles...