WASHINGTON – President Bush gave Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a strong vote of confidence Monday despite scant support and scathing criticism from key Republicans.
“This is an honest, honorable man, in whom I have confidence,” Bush said.
The president said that Gonzales’ testimony before skeptical Judiciary Committee senators last week “increased my confidence” in his ability to lead the Justice Department. Separately, a White House spokeswoman said, “He’s staying.”
Gonzales has been under fire for what the White House acknowledges was his poor handling of the firing of eight federal prosecutors, including one from Washington state. He claimed dozens of times at last week’s hearing that he couldn’t recall key details about the prosecutors’ firings or about a key November meeting that documents show he attended.
Bush said that while some senators did not like the way Gonzales answered the questions, he continues to back his attorney general.
“As the hearings went forward, it was clear the attorney general broke no law, there’s no wrongdoing,” Bush said.
However, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the top Republican on the committee, said Monday that keeping Gonzales as attorney general will be “harmful to the Justice Department because he has lost his credibility.”
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