Gonzales Reaction Roundup

Elected officials and other concerned parties from all over are weighing in on the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Continue reading.

"The Bush administration's misuse of the Justice Department as a political tool has sadly dishonored the fine work of the great collection of public servants at the Department of Justice,” said Rep. Anthony Weiner. "I am pleased to see the Attorney General has finally done the right thing and stepped down. I am hopeful the president will appoint someone who can restore Americans faith in a criminal justice system free of political calculations."

"The resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales does not absolve the Bush Administration of its various abuses of power.  I have long called for the Attorney General to resign, but with the full understanding that he must not become the sacrificial lamb of this White House.  Mr. Gonzales is but one actor in the Administration's ongoing campaign to evade, ignore and undermine the Constitution,” said Rep Jerrold Nadler. "I urge the President to nominate an Attorney General who has a fundamental respect for the rule of law and the oversight responsibilities of Congress.  The person entrusted with enforcing our nation's laws must also abide by them - a duty that Mr. Gonzales apparently failed.  Normally, a resignation of this magnitude would serve to restore the nation's confidence in a Department that has become riddled with scandal, however, in this case I believe the problems with this Administration's handling of the Department of Justice go well beyond Mr. Gonzales and rest firmly with President Bush.”

"Attorney General Gonzales' resignation is welcome -- and overdue -- news. His resignation should not, however, end congressional and Department of Justice investigations into misconduct by the Attorney General and his former top aides. Questions of whether Justice Department officials lied to Congress, conducted criminal inquiries to further political ends, illegally fired U.S. Attorneys and made hiring decisions based on political affiliation still merit investigation regardless of Mr. Gonzales' resignation,” said  Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). “Just as former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's resignation did not impede the ongoing criminal investigation into his conduct while a member of Congress, so Mr. Gonzales' departure should not stop Congress, the Department of Justice's Inspector General and the Office of Professional Responsibility from continuing their probes into the illegal actions of our nation's top ranking law enforcement officials. Our democratic system of government depends on the principle that all public officials be held accountable for their conduct. To that end, CREW still believes that a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate the potentially criminal conduct of Mr. Gonzales and his former aides."

"The Attorney General may be gone, but the Bush Administration's policies of warrant-less wiretapping, electronic eavesdropping, and domestic spying - all in violation of the U.S. Constitution - will remain in place and are certain to be expanded unless the U.S. Congress exhibits some backbone and repeals the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA),” said Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a 2008 Democratic presidential candidate. "While some may applaud the resignation as some sort of victory, the underlying abuses of Americans' Constitutional rights and civil liberties authorized by the Congress through the so-called Patriot Act and the recently approved amendments to FISA will continue unabated. Until we address those abuses and challenge those laws, it doesn't really matter who the Attorney General is."

"The life of Alberto Gonzales has been defined by his devotion to family and deep commitment to public service. He presided over a time of great consequence and tremendous challenge in our nation's history – a point of transition between the development of new resources designed to keep Americans safe, and the implementation of these tools in an effective manner. I appreciate his hard work in defense of our country, and look forward to his future contributions<’ said Missouri Republican Rep. Roy Blunt, House Minority Whip.

"The politicization of the Justice Department under the leadership of Alberto Gonzales was a national travesty," said Common Cause President Bob Edgar. "He never seemed to understand that the attorney general's job is to make sure that justice is administered in a fair and impartial way for all, and not just provide paper-thin legal justifications for whatever the president wanted done. Gonzales has done more damage to the Justice Department's reputation for professionalism and independence from politics than anyone since Robert Bork fired Archibald Cox in the Saturday Night Massacre. This damage will take years to repair, and President Bush should begin the job by appointing a new attorney general with integrity whose credentials are based on experience in law enforcement, not longtime political ties."

"It's about time that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned," said DNC Chairman Howard Dean. "From illegally firing US Attorneys to limiting voting rights to warrantless wiretapping, Alberto Gonzales' Justice Department has promoted a culture of lawlessness designed to serve the Bush White House's narrow political agenda, not the American people. Gonzales now joins a long list of Republican officials resigning under a cloud of scandal, but these resignations cannot purge the Bush Administration of its problems. The true problem rests with the Bush White House itself, which continues to put what's best for the Republican Party ahead of what's best for America."

"Attorney General Gonzales lost the confidence of Congress and the American people a long time ago, thus this resignation is as appropriate as it is overdue,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. "There is widespread sentiment that Mr. Gonzales has not been candid and truthful in his representations to Congress and the public. The focus of the Attorney General must be on the Constitution and the law, and the adherence to both, and not on the politics of the Administration. It is for the good of the country that the President puts in place a new Attorney General who can engender the trust necessary to effectively head the Department of Justice."

“I am relieved the Alberto Gonzales has finally decided to leave the Department of Justice, which he has harmed greatly in his time there,” Rep. Jose Serrano said. “Like the Administration he served, he will be remembered for his reckless commitment to politics above fairness. The Justice Department has suffered greatly during his tenure there—from the questionably removed U.S. Attorneys to suspiciously partisan prosecutions. I believe that with Mr. Gonzales gone, the Department finally will be able to recover.”

"The President must now restore credibility to the office of the Attorney General. Given the serious loss of public trust and the disarray at the Department of Justice, the American people must have absolute confidence in the integrity of the next Attorney General as the nation's chief law enforcement officer and as defender of our constitution independent of political influence. The President's nominee must have the character and stature to command that confidence," said House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

"The resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is welcome news for two reasons. First, he has given the President awful legal advice on a range of constitutional and legal issues -- from habeas corpus to military tribunals to the Patriot Act. Second, there has been a pattern of misleading statements from Gonzales to the Congress, the courts, and the public. His standing on Capitol Hill sank so low that even his staunchest supporter, the president, had to act. There are several congressional investigations underway -- and today's resignation should not alter the course of those investigations,” said Timothy Lynch, director of the Cato Institute’s Project on Criminal Justice.

“After months of calling for his resignation, I am very pleased that Roberto Gonzales has resigned as the United States Attorney General.  Mr. Gonzales has consistently steered the nation in the wrong direction by instituting policies that sidestep individual civil liberties and by furthering the politicization of the Justice Department.  I now urge the President, with the oversight of Congress, to appoint a new Attorney General who will provide the necessary independence to uphold the law of the land,” said State Senator Eric Schneiderman.   "The resignation of Alberto Gonzales offers President Bush the opportunity to name a new attorney general who will unequivocally reject the use of torture and safeguard the values for which this country stands and which it seeks to project to the rest of the world," said Maureen Byrnes, Executive Director of Human Rights First. "Under Mr. Gonzales, the Justice Department gave legal cover to a policy of official cruelty in the treatment of prisoners. With his resignation, this policy must end. Congress should investigate the abuses that occurred on his watch."

"Gonzales' resignation was inevitable. It's unfortunate that it took so long, and proved that he was not the right man for the job. He lacked proper judgment, and his outright refusal to be honest and upstanding was a disservice to the DoJ. His prior refusal to step down was an embarrassment to the federal government, a detriment to the work of DoJ employees and put the agency in poor standing with the American public,” said American Federation of Government Employees National President John Gage. "AFGE is cautiously optimistic that the next attorney general will be committed to resurrecting the longstanding, proud reputation of DoJ that was shattered by Gonzales and Bush's political interference.”

“Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had lost the confidence of the American people, something that was apparent to everyone except apparently him and President Bush,” said Rep. Eliot Engel. “His resignation today is welcome news for those who believe in the Constitution and who don’t believe in having a government spying on its own citizens.”

For more New York political coverage visit [City Hall News].