By BOBBY HORN JR.
Alberto Gonzales, the U.S. Attorney General who has ties to the Aldine area, resigned his post last week amidst criticism from both Congressional Democrats and Republicans over his handling and testimony on the firing of eight U.S. attorneys and his support of domestic wiretapping without court orders.
Gonzales is a 1973 graduate of MacArthur High School. Also a Rice University graduate, Gonzales served in the U.S. Air Force and graduated from Harvard Law School. Before becoming attorney general, Gonzales was a member of the Texas Supreme Court and Texas Secretary of State.
The resignation announcement came on Aug. 27. The weekend before that Gonzales met with President George W. Bush at his Crawford ranch to inform him of his decision.
During an address to reporters Gonzales remained upbeat about his time as A.G.
I often remind our fellow citizens that we live in the greatest country in the world, and that I have lived the American dream, he said. Even my worst days as attorney general have been better than my fathers best days.
White House officials say that Gonzales maintained that he did nothing wrong, but that the surrounding controversies were creating an unneeded distraction in the Justice Department.
During his confirmation hearing to become A.G., Gonzales also defended the White House position of detaining terror suspects for long periods of time without access to attorneys or court appearances.
In testimony before Congress over the U.S. attorney scandal, Gonzales response, or lack of response in some cases, brought threats of criminal contempt charges from ranking Democrats as well as Republicans.
Bush attacked congressional leaders for their criticism of Gonzales, saying that he was a good man who was impeded in his work by those who sought to drag his name through the mud for political reasons.