Gonzales

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department's inspector general acknowledged yesterday that he was examining whether outgoing Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales made false or misleading statements to Congress about the National Security Agency's terrorist surveillance program, the fired U.S. attorneys affair and other subjects. Responding to a congressional query, Inspector General Glenn A. Fine said that his office was investigating Gonzales' conduct as part of several ongoing probes into the activities of department lawyers on Gonzales' watch.

WASHINGTON -- Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee accused Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales yesterday of repeatedly misleading Congress and suggested he had perjured himself in connection with statements to lawmakers about an anti-terrorism program. One after another, Democrats - and some Republicans - accused Gonzales of a pattern of deceit in addressing issues including his role in last year's firing of top prosecutors and his 2004 participation in an unusual late-night visit to the hospital room of his ailing predecessor, John Ashcroft.

WASHINGTON -- The White House began floating the names of possible replacements for Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales yesterday as the Justice Department released more internal documents related to the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year. One prominent Republican, who earlier had predicted that Gonzales would survive the controversy, said he expected both Gonzales and Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty to resign soon. Another well-connected Republican said that White House officials have launched an aggressive search for Gonzales' replacement, though President Bush hadn't decided whether to ask for his resignation.

WASHINGTON -- When Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales faces angry Senate Democrats tomorrow, he will acknowledge that he made a broad range of mistakes in the dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys last year and will apologize to them and their families, but he also will insist that even though the White House was originally behind the terminations, none of the prosecutors was fired for political reasons. In what has been described as a make-or-break appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the nation's top federal law enforcement officer will say: "I know that I did not, and would not, ask for a resignation of any individual in order to interfere with or influence a particular prosecution for partisan political gain.

WASHINGTON -- Republican support for embattled Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales continued to evaporate yesterday as the third-ranking leader in the House and an influential senator said that Gonzales should consider resigning. A day after failing to mollify members of the Senate Judiciary Committee over his handling of the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, Gonzales launched a last-ditch effort to save his job in phone calls to congressional leaders. But the tide of opinion on Capitol Hill appeared to be turning against him. Rep. Adam Putnam of Florida, chairman of the House Republican Conference, became the highest-ranking House Republican to call for Gonzales to step down, declaring yesterday, "It's time for fresh leadership."

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales defended his role yesterday in the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, after damaging testimony from his former chief of staff that he gave inaccurate accounts of his involvement in the matter. In Boston to attend an event on preventing sexual exploitation of children, the attorney general told reporters that he wasn't involved in talks over which individual prosecutors to dismiss. "There obviously remains some confusion about my involvement in this," Gonzales said.

WASHINGTON -- The director of the FBI, Robert S. Mueller III, in testimony yesterday about a 2004 confrontation in which top Justice Department officials threatened to resign over a secret intelligence operation, offered an account that sharply conflicted with Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales' sworn statements about the standoff. Mueller told the House Judiciary Committee that the confrontation was about the National Security Agency's counterterrorism eavesdropping program, describing it as "an NSA program that has been much discussed."

Washington -- After appearing to have weathered the worst of the Justice Department scandal, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales came under fresh assault yesterday on the heels of this week's revelations about his conduct in the Bush administration. Two Republican senators and a former prosecutor leveled withering criticism at Gonzales yesterday as Senate Democrats called for a no-confidence vote on the attorney general. A week ago, Gonzales' position seemed to be improving as he received support from Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee.

The possibility that Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales could be named to the Supreme Court has distinct parallels to one prior high court appointment - the nomination of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. President Ronald Reagan made history in 1981 when he nominated the first woman to the nation's highest court as women's power in politics and the workplace was growing. Bush would make history with Gonzales by naming the first Hispanic to the court as Hispanic-Americans play an ever-greater role in the nation's public life.