Gonzales admits 'mistakes' in firings of prosecutors

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said this afternoon that " I accept that mistakes were made" in the decision to replace some United States attorneys, but he vowed to stay on the job and fix the system.

Speaking at a news conference at the Justice Department, Mr. Gonzales said he did not have personal knowledge of the discussions involving individual United States attorneys, but he accepted responsibility for the errors that were made.

He said he rejected an earlier White House proposal to replace all the United States attorneys at once as "too disruptive." His statement came as Senate Democrats vowed to get explanations, with or without subpoenas, from high Bush administration officials as revelations about the dismissal of federal prosecutors put renewed pressure on the White House.

"Just when we thought our faith could not be shaken any further, it has been," said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "The latest revelations prove beyond any reasonable doubt that there has been unprecedented breach of trust, abuse of power and misuse of the Justice Department."

Mr. Schumer was reacting to disclosures by administration officials on Monday that the White House was deeply involved in the decision late last year to dismiss federal prosecutors, including some who had been criticized by Republican lawmakers.

Mr. Schumer, who called over the weekend for the resignation of Mr. Gonzales, renewed that call today. The senator also said Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser, "should not wait for a subpoena" but should come before Congress at once to tell what he knows about the affair.

So should Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel and one-time Supreme Court nominee, "who was deeply involved in this ill-conceived project," Mr. Schumer said.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California and also a member of the Judiciary Committee, said she had always believed that the attorney general's office "stood apart from the White House." "And now I learn that much of what I had believed, at least about this attorney general's office, is in fact not the case," Senator Feinstein said.

Predicting that a full inquiry may take a while, she said: "We will go that distance. And we will dig just as deep as is required." The political problem for the White House was underscored when some Republicans criticized the administration for its handling of the controversy.

Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said the whole affair had shown "idiocy on the part of the administration." "They have the right to let people go, they are political appointments, but why would you do it in a way that creates a political problem?" Mr. Coburn said. "I don't understand it." He demurred when he was asked if he had faith in Mr. Gonzales.

Last October, President Bush spoke with Mr. Gonzales to pass along concerns by Republicans that some prosecutors were not aggressively addressing voter fraud, the White House said Monday. Senator Pete V. Domenici, Republican of New Mexico, was among the politicians who complained directly to the president, according to an administration official.

The president did not call for the removal of any specific United States attorneys, Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman, said Monday.

She said she had "no indication" that the president had been personally aware that a process was already under way to identify prosecutors who would be fired. In early 2005, Ms. Miers, then the White House legal counsel, asked a Justice Department official whether it would be feasible to replace all United States attorneys when their four-year terms expired, according to the Justice Department.

The proposal came as the administration was considering which political appointees to replace in the second term, Ms. Perino said.

Ms. Miers sent her query to D. Kyle Sampson, a top aide to Mr. Gonzales, the Justice officials said. Mr. Sampson, who resigned Monday, replied that filling so many jobs at once would overtax the department. He suggested replacing a smaller group, according to e-mail messages and other memorandums compiled by the Justice Department.

Mr. Rove, the senior White House adviser, also had rejected the idea of replacing all the prosecutors, Ms. Perino said. But as Ms. Miers worked with Mr. Sampson on devising a list of attorneys to oust, Mr. Rove relayed to her complaints he had received that the Justice Department was not moving aggressively on voter fraud cases.

The White House continued to defend its handling of the dismissals.

BBC