Senate Democrats Reject White House Push To Move Up Gonzales' Testimony

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The White House scrambled Sunday to move up Attorney Alberto Gonzales' planned testimony to Congress on April 17 about his involvement in firing eight federal prosecutors, only to

Sunday, April 1st 2007, 1:49 pm

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The White House scrambled Sunday to move up Attorney Alberto Gonzales' planned testimony to Congress on April 17 about his involvement in firing eight federal prosecutors, only to get a cold shoulder from majority Democrats.

The effort reflected the frustration by Republican senators and the White House itself over how long it is taking the embattled attorney general to explain himself under oath. Congress has just begun a vacation _ one week for the Senate, two for the House.

In a sign of Gonzales' diminished standing on Capitol Hill, the Senate GOP leader offered lukewarm support for the nation's top law enforcer, whose inconsistent explanations about the dismissals have become a distraction for the Bush administration.

Asked directly if he has confidence in Gonzales, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said: ``I can honestly say the president does.''

``What I can tell you at the moment is that he enjoys the support of the president, for whom he works,'' he said. ``I think most Republican senators are willing to give the attorney general a chance to come up before the Judiciary Committee and give his side of the story.''

Gonzales is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 17. White House counselor Dan Bartlett said the committee ought to reschedule the hearing for next week.

``Let's move it up and let's get the facts,'' Bartlett said. ``Let's have the attorney general there sooner rather than later.''

The committee chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, said Gonzales had been offered earlier dates but turned them down. It was Gonzales who chose April 17, said Leahy, D-Vt., and that date will not change now because ``everybody has set their schedule according to that.''

``It's the date that the attorney general originally picked. It's the date the hearing will take place,'' Leahy said.

Until recently, department officials said they wanted to give Congress enough time to go through the more than 3,000 pages of e-mails, memos, calendar pages and other documents detailing the decision to fire the prosecutors.

That changed Friday _ the day after Gonzales' former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, testified to the committee _ when aides said they would try to get Gonzales to Capitol Hill as soon as possible to explain his side.

In his testimony, Sampson said that Gonzales was deeply involved in the removal of the U.S. attorneys, contrary to the attorney general's public statements.

``We are absolutely confused by the White House position,'' said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat. ``For the longest time, Alberto Gonzales wasn't going to come, maybe much later. Now the White House can't wait to bring him in.''

During the congressional recess, Senate Democrats are interviewing lower-level Justice Department officials in private to lay the groundwork for their session with Gonzales.