JURIST - Paper Chase: Gonzales acknowledges mistakes in handling US Attorney firings but stays on

[JURIST] US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [official profile] said Tuesday he will not resign [AP recorded video] from his position in response to growing controversy over the firings last year of eight US Attorneys that may have been politically motivated [JURIST report]. Gonzales nonetheless accepted responsibility and admitted "mistakes were made" when the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] publicly dismissed the US Attorneys and subsequently misled Congress about the firings. According to e-mails [PDF; set 2, PDF] revealed Tuesday, Gonzales' Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson [profile] and former White House counsel Harriet Miers [official profile; JURIST news archive] suggested firing [JURIST report] all 93 US Attorneys [DOJ backgrounder] at the beginning of President Bush's second term. Sampson resigned [press release] from his position Monday.

In response to Gonzales' comments, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) [official website], among others, renewed his calls for Gonzales to resign in a statement [recorded video] on the Senate floor. Several high-ranking Democratic senators also called for Gonzales' resignation [JURIST report] Monday in the wake of revelations [JURIST report] in an official audit that the FBI broke and misused laws in obtaining personal information from telephone companies, Internet service providers, banks, and credit bureaus under the Patriot Act. AP has more.

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