Hold Senator Salazar accountable: Gonzales must resign
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales reiterated recently that he has no plans to resign. "I will stay as long as I feel I can be effective," he told a news conference. (Washington Post, 4/24/2007)
Gonzales' credibility has come into question most recently over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys. While Gonzales initially claimed he was not involved, documents and testimony show that David C. Iglesias, the U.S. attorney in New Mexico, was fired after Bush, Rove and New Mexico Republicans complained to Gonzales. (Bloomberg, 4/24/2007)
Many Republicans, including those who voted to confirm Gonzales, have joined Democrats in saying Gonzales should resign--including Senators Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Gordon Smith of Oregon, and John Sununu of New Hampshire, and others in the House including Rep. Tom Tancredo. (Boston Globe, 4/9/2007)
Yet Senator Ken Salazar most recenty stated he "has not decided whether to continue supporting" Gonzales. (Denver Post, 4/19/2007)
In fact, after taking the oath of office in January 2006, one of Salazar's first official acts was to escort Gonzales to his Senate confirmation hearing for Attorney General. Salazar was one of only six Democrats to vote for Gonzales. (Rocky Mountain News, 3/20/2007)
Salazar supported him because Gonzales indicated to Salazar that he could "balance out the needs for national security" while "maintaining the important fundamental civil liberties of our nation." (Congressional Quarterly, 1/8/2005)
The firing of the U.S. Attorneys is the latest in Gonzales' horrific record on "important fundamental civil liberties."
In order to be credible we need to hold our elected officials, regardless of party, accountable.
We call on Senator Salazar to immediately ask Gonzales to resign.
