Some significant dates in the Washington, D.C., career of Alberto Gonzales, the nation’s 80th U.S. attorney general who announced his resignation Monday.
January 2001: Named President Bush’s White House legal counsel.
Jan. 25, 2002: In a memo, Gonzales contends that the president can waive anti-torture laws and international treaties that provide protections to prisoners of war.
Feb. 3, 2005: Confirmed and sworn in as 80th attorney general of the United States.
April 27, 2005: While seeking renewal of broad law enforcement powers under the USA Patriot Act, Gonzales told the Senate Intelligence Committee, “There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse” from the law enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Dec. 15: The New York Times says Bush authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States without search warrants.
Feb. 6: Gonzales tells Congress the president is fully empowered to eavesdrop on Americans without warrants as part of the war on terror.
Jan. 17, 2007: Gonzales changes course and puts the government’s terrorist spying program under the authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Feb. 8, 2007: Former U.S. Attorney John McKay of Seattle says his resignation was ordered by the Bush administration without explanation, seven months after he received a favorable job evaluation.
March 9: Audits find that FBI agents improperly and, in come cases, illegally obtained personal information about people in the United States. Gonzales, who oversees the FBI, orders an internal investigation.
March 13: Gonzales accepts responsibility for mistakes in the way the Justice Department handled the dismissal of eight federal prosecutors. Gonzales says he was not closely involved in the dismissals.
March 29: A former top aide disputes Gonzales’ claims, saying he was briefed regularly over two years on the firings of federal prosecutors.
May 15: Former Deputy Attorney General James Comey tells the Senate Judiciary Committee about a dramatic hospital bedside confrontation between Gonzales and his predecessor, John Ashcroft, over renewal of a terrorism surveillance program.
May 23: A second former Justice Department aide undercuts Gonzales’ assertion that he did not see a list of U.S. attorneys to be fired.
July 23: Gonzales tells Congress in a statement that he’s troubled that politics may have played a part in hiring career federal prosecutors.
July 24: Gonzales testifies before Senate committee that he and former White House chief of staff Andy Card tried to pressure Ashcroft to re-certify Bush’s domestic eavesdropping program.
July 26: FBI Director Robert Mueller contradicts Gonzales’ sworn testimony.
July 31: Democratic House members introduce a measure directing the House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether to impeach Gonzales.
Aug. 2: Senators in both parties concede that they don’t have enough evidence to make a perjury charge stick.
Aug. 3: In a two-page letter to senators, Gonzales declines to provide more information about discrepancies in his sworn testimony about the purge of federal prosecutors.
Aug. 27: Gonzales announces his resignation and Bush publicly accepts.
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