House Dems move to impeach Gonzales

Several House Democrats led by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) introduced a resolution Monday to impeach Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for his role in the firing of several U.S. attorneys.

{mosads}Inslee emphasized that he and his five cosponsors, including Reps. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) and Rep. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), had experience prosecuting cases. Becerra is a former deputy attorney general. Udall is a former federal prosecutor and state attorney general. Inslee prosecuted cases in the 1970s and ’80s for the city of Selah, Wash.

“The White House is defending the indefensible actions of Alberto Gonzales,” Inslee said. “If the president won’t do his job, Congress will do ours.”

Inslee noted that questions remain about whether Gonzales had been truthful about his visit to former Attorney General John Ashcroft’s bedside to seek approval for a surveillance program.

The resolution would need to win approval by a majority of the House for the House Judiciary Committee to start investigating. If the committee investigated and determined by majority vote that grounds exist, a specific resolution would be sent to the full House. If the House voted for impeachment the case would be tried in the Senate.