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“The evidence that U.S. attorneys were fired for political purposes has mounted for almost a year, and the credibility of our nation’s justice system has increasingly suffered,” Thompson said in a written statement.
Thompson had sent a letter to President George W. Bush five months ago calling for Gonzales' resignation.
“Rather than ‘fix the problems’ as he promised, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has only stonewalled Congress’ attempt to hold the Bush Administration accountable and has given questionable testimony about his own involvement,” Thompson said. “His resignation was long overdue. Moreover, if the investigations find that the law was broken or justice obstructed, Gonzales should face charges.
Thompson said he hopes Bush will use Gonzales' resignation as an opportunity to bring integrity back to the office of the Attorney General by appointing a nominee “who holds the law above politics and aims to strengthen, not diminish, our civil liberties.”
“This is also an opportunity to re-examine the continuation of warrantless surveillance,” Thompson said.
Thompson, who is chairman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Terrorism, Human Intelligence, Analysis and Counterintelligence, said the House Intelligence Committee will be crafting new legislation to replace the flawed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the law that governs the surveillance of foreign targets for intelligence purposes.
“We need a law that allows us to collect information on those who threaten our nation’s security, without violating the rights of law-abiding Americans,” said Thompson. “FISA should also be altered to ensure that an independent court, not the Bush Administration, determines when the communications of Americans need to be monitored.”
Visit Thompson's Web site at http://mikethompson.house.gov/.
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