Alberto Gonzales

] has observed that Congress has the power to impeach Gonzales if he willfully lied or withheld information from Congress during his testimony about the dismissal of U.S. Attorneys.cite news
title=He’s Impeachable, You Know
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/opinion/03bowman.html
publisher="New York Times"
author=Bowman, Frank
date=2007-05-03
accessdate=2007-05-05] Congress has impeached a sitting Cabinet member before; William W. Belknap, Ulysses S. Grant's Secretary of War, was impeached in a unanimous vote by the House in 1876 for bribery, but the Senate fell just short of the votes necessary to convict him. Belknap had resigned before the House vote, and several Senators who voted to acquit him said they did so only because they felt the Senate lacked jurisdiction.

On July 30 2007, MSNBC reported that Rep. Jay Inslee announced that he would introduce a bill the following day that would require the House Judiciary Committee to begin an impeachment investigation against Gonzales. [cite web
url=http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/07/30/breaking-house-democrats-introducing-bill-to-investigate-impeachment-of-alberto-gonzales/ |title="BREAKING: House Democrats Introducing Bill To Investigate Impeachment Of Alberto Gonzales"
publisher=Crooks and Liars] [cite web
url = http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.RES.589:
title = That the Committee on the Judiciary shall investigate fully whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to impeach Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General
accessdate = 2007-08-27
date = 2007-07-31
author = Representative Jay Inslee Democrat Washington]

Resignation announcement

Gonzales submitted his resignation as Attorney General effective September 17, 2007,citeweb|title = Bush Ally Gonzales resigns post| publisher = BBC News | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6965602.stm | date = 2007-08-27 | accessdate = 2007-08-28 ] by a letter addressed to President Bush on August 26, 2007. In a statement on August 27, Gonzales thanked the President for the opportunity to be of service to his country, giving no indication of either the reasons for his resignation or his future plans. Later that day, President Bush praised Gonzales for his service, reciting the numerous positions in Texas government, and later, the government of the United States, to which Bush had appointed Gonzales. Bush attributed the resignation to Gonzales' name having been "dragged through the mud" for "political reasons". Senators Schumer (D-NY), Feinstein (D-CA) and Specter (R-PA) replied that the resignation was entirely attributable to the excessive politicization of the Attorney General's office by Gonzales, whose credibility with Congress, they asserted, was nonexistent.

uccessor

On September 17, 2007, President Bush announced the nomination of ex-Judge Michael B. Mukasey to serve as his successor. Bush also announced a revised appointment for acting Attorney General: Paul Clement serves for 24 hours and returns to his position as Solicitor General; the departing Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division, Peter Keisler is persuaded to stay on, and is appointed acting Attorney General, effective September 18, 2007.]

Post-resignation

Investigations

Soon after departure from the DOJ in September 2007, continuing inquiries by Congress and the Justice Department led Gonzales to hire a criminal-defense lawyer George Terwilliger, partner at White & Case, and former deputy attorney general under former president G.H.W. Bush. Terwiliger was on the Republican law team involved in Florida presidential election recount battle of 2000.cite news | first= Michael | last= Isikoff | coauthors= and Mark Josenball | title= Gonzales Hires a Top Gun: Still under investigation by Congress and Justice Department lawyers who once worked for him, the former attorney general has turned to a leading Washington attorney to help him beat the rap.
date= October 10, 2007 | publisher= | url = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21224607/site/newsweek/page/0/ | work = Newsweek | pages = | accessdate = 2007-10-13 ]

On October 19 2007, John McKay, the former U.S. Attorney for Washington's Western District, told "The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review" that Inspector General Glenn A. Fine may recommend criminal charges against Gonzales. [ [http://www.spokesmanreview.com/breaking/story.asp?ID=12036 SR.com: Gonzales could be prosecuted, McKay says ] ]

On November 15, 2007, The Washington Post reported that supporters of Gonzales had created a trust fund to help pay for his legal expenses, which were mounting as the Justice Department Inspector General's office continued to investigate whether Gonzales committed perjury or improperly tampered with a congressional witness. [cite news
url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/14/AR2007111402318_pf.html
title=Gonzales Defense Fund Set Up - Former Attorney General's Legal Fees Mount in Probe
author=Dan Eggen
publisher=The Washington Post
date=2007-11-15
accessdate=2007-11-15]

On September 2, 2008, the Inspector General found that Gonzales had stored classified documents in an insecure fashion, at his home and insufficiently secure safes at work. Some members of Congress criticized Gonzales for selectively declassifying some of this information for political purposes. [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94203302 Report: Ex-AG Gonzales Mishandled Classified Info] by Nina Totenberg. All Things Considered, National Public Radio. 2 September 2008.] The Justice Department declined to press criminal charges.

Career

On April 13, 2008, Neil Lewis, writing for the "New York Times," reported that Gonzales has been unsuccessful in his solicitation of law firms for a job. It is seen as extraordinary that a former Attorney General has not been welcomed into a firm, and law firm sources indicated that Gonzales's reputation is dimmed by his role in the dismissal of federal prosecutors, and the open criticism he received from Senators and Representatives while testifying about the dismissal of U.S. attorneys, and during his testimony about a secret eavesdropping program.

Ongoing investigations by the Office of the Inspector General of the Justice Department are not concluded at this date. His income since he left office on September 17, 2007, has come from speaking engagements. Schools such as Washington University in St. Louis, Ohio State University, and the University of Florida, who have each paid him about $30,000 plus expenses for appearances; business groups are being charged a little more. ]

Texas Supreme Court opinions

This is a list of opinions in which Alberto Gonzales wrote the majority court opinion, wrote a concurring opinion, or wrote a dissent. Cases in which he joined in an opinion written by another justice are not included. The Texas Supreme Court issued 84 opinions during Gonzales's tenure on the court, according to LexisNexis.

Majority opinions

*"Fitzgerald v. Advanced Spine Fixation Systems", 996 S.W.2d 864 (Tex. 1999).
*"Texas Farmers Insurance Company v. Murphy", 996 S.W.2d 873 (Tex. 1999).
*"Mid-Century Insurance Company v. Kidd", 997 S.W.2d 265 (Tex. 1999).
*"General Motors Corporation v. Sanchez", 997 S.W.2d 584 (Tex. 1999).
*"In re Missouri Pac. R.R. Co.", 998 S.W.2d 212 (Tex. 1999).
*"Mallios v. Baker", 11 S.W.3d 157 (Tex. 2000).
*"Gulf Insurance Company v. Burns Motors", 22 S.W.3d 417 (Tex. 2000).
*"Southwestern Refining Co. v. Bernal", 22 S.W.3d 425 (Tex. 2000).
*"Golden Eagle Archery, Inc. v. Jackson", 24 S.W.3d 362 (Tex. 2000).
*"City of Fort Worth v. Zimlich", 29 S.W.3d 62 (Tex. 2000).
*"Prudential Insurance Company of America v. Financial Review Services, Inc.", 29 S.W.3d 74 (Tex. 2000).
*"Texas Department of Transportation v. Able", 35 S.W.3d 608 (Tex. 2000).
*"Pustejovsky v. Rapid-American Corp.", 35 S.W.3d 643 (Tex. 2000).
*"John G. & Marie Stella Kenedy Memorial Foundation v. Dewhurst", 44 Tex. Sup. J. 268 (2000), "withdrawn". [The Texas Supreme Court granted rehearing and reversed its own judgment, in an opinion written by Justice Hecht. 90 S.W.3d 268 (Tex. 2002).]

Concurring opinions

*"In re Dallas Morning News", 10 S.W.3d 298 (Tex. 1999).
*"Osterberg v. Peca", 12 S.W.3d 31 (Tex. 2000).
*"In re Jane Doe 3", 19 S.W.3d 300 (Tex. 2000).
*"In re Doe", 19 S.W.3d 346 (Tex. 2000). (This case is popularly referred to as "In re Jane Doe 5".)
*"Grapevine Excavation, Inc. v. Maryland Lloyds", 35 S.W.3d 1 (Tex. 2000).

Partial dissent, partial concurrence

*"Lopez v. Munoz, Hockema, & Reed", 22 S.W.3d 857 (Tex. 2000).

ee also

*George W. Bush Supreme Court candidates

References

External links

* [http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/gonzales-bio.html Official biography] from "whitehouse.gov"
* [http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/10/bush.cabinet/ Announcement of his nomination] on "CNN"
* [http://pview.findlaw.com/view/1505800_1?channel=LP Current Law Office] in "Thomson Legal Record"
* [http://www.vinson-elkins.com/ Vinson and Elkins] , Lawyers
* [http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=241596&page=1 A second biography] from "ABC News"
* [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17670 "Death in Texas"] by Sister Helen Prejean in "The New York Review of Books"
* [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/11/10/usdom9659.htm "A Poor Choice"] —"Human Rights Watch"
* [http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/whouse/wh911c33004ltr.html Letter to 9/11 Commission] from "FindLaw"
* [http://wid.ap.org/documents/doj/gonzales.pdf The Geneva Convention is "obsolete" memo in PDF] from "Washington in Depth, AP"
* [http://news.lp.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/torture/powtorturememos.html Bush Admin. policy memos re: torture, interrogations, and POW status] from "FindLaw"
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050207005523/http://kennedy.senate.gov/~kennedy/statements/05/1/2005201A51.html "Kennedy urges Senate to deny Gonzales nomination over torture policies"] from Senator Edward M. Kennedy, February 1 2005.
* [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17730 "Torture and Gonzales: An Exchange"] from "The New York Review of Books"
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/01/07/MNG41AMQ8R1.DTL&type=printable Gonzales Grilled Over Drowning Torture]
* [http://www.counterpunch.com/foley01062005.html Support of Torture Not Gonzales' Greatest Sin]
* [http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2007/ag_speech_070313.html Transcript of Gonzales' Press Conference] , March 13 2007, relating to the Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy.
* [http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/entry/Bush-defends-Gonzales-role-in-US-Attorney-firings Bush defends Gonzales' role in US Attorney firings ] , Breaking Legal news, April 1, 2007
* [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=15&art_id=42496&sid=13184752&con_type=1 Dangerous precedents] , "The Standard", Thursday, April 19 2007
* [http://www1.aldine.k12.tx.us/schools/websites/macsr/Alumni/MHS1968.pdf McArthur High School Yearbook 1968]

Persondata
NAME=Gonzales, Alberto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Gonzales, Alberto R.
SHORT DESCRIPTION=80th United States Attorney General
DATE OF BIRTH=August 4 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH=San Antonio, Texas
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=