BREAKING: Perjury Probe of Gonzales Being Considered

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democrats called for a perjury investigation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Thursday, the office of top presidential aide Karl Rove to deepen political and legal confrontation with the Bush administration. `` Obviously, the Attorney General has provided a minimum of half-truths and misleading statements, Democrats on the four''Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter to Solicitor General Paul Clement. They sent a letter shortly before the Sena. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. Announced on the agenda of Rove, the top political strategist president, in remarks on the Senate floor. The White House said the executive honour block Congress with the documents or testimony current and former President assistants. `` Now we have reached the point where the accumulated evidence suggests that political considerations into account the unprecedented dismissal of at least nine United States Attorney last year, "said Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In response, the White House spokesman Tony Fratto said, `` Every day congressional Democrats to prove that they are more interested in headlines than the business the Americans want them to do. And Americans now say that the Congress, the Democratic leadership unable to resolve important issues,''he said. Gonzalez is in the heart of the United States attorney contradictions, but word of perjury probe alleged involvement of conflict between the testimony he gave a press conference in two appearances, one last year and one this week. The issue is that the dissent of President unauthorized wiretapping program. Regarding the dismissal of prosecutors, e-mail released by Justice Gonzales show "Friends talked with Rove on the matter. Leahy said that the issuance of subpoenas for J. Scott Jennings, a White House political aide. Its performance and Rove was set on August 2. `` For more than four months, I have exhausted all possibilities to find voluntary cooperation Karl Rove and J. Scott Jennings, but to no avail,''said Vermont lawmaker. `` They and the White House have a position of each request. Indeed, the White House prefers to withhold documents and instructions witnesses former officials to refuse to answer questions and provide relevant information and documents.'' Call for perjury investigation was another complication for Gonzalez, whose suitability for the work has been openly criticized by Republicans as well as Democrats. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. , senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, , told reporters aboard Air Force One day that `` on''mozhet bring the matter before the President, who firmly his old friend. And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Students preferred. , Stated reporters, `` I am confident did not know,''based on interviews with Democrats at the press conference. In a separate letter Thursday to Gonzales, Leahy said he would give the court eight days, correct, clarify or modify his testimony `` so that under oath, they whole truth.'' In his letter to Clement, the four senators wrote, Gonzales testified that that last year there was internal dissent over the president unauthorized listening contradict testimony by former Deputy Attorney General James Comey and Gonzalez own statements this week by the Judiciary Committee. They also said Gonzales had falsely told the panel that, that he had not spoken to dismiss other Justice officials. His former White House communications, Monica Goodling, told a press conference in granting immunity that it `` neudobno''razgovore with Gonzalez in which he outlined his memory of what happened, and asked her, for her reaction. `` The court should be held to high ethical standards,''the senators wrote. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, One of the four lawmakers to sign the letter was sharply criticized Gonzalez. `` There is no words "to the maximum.'' Sumer said. `` This is untrue. This is a fallacy. Those lying.'' Clement will decide whether to appoint a special prosecutor because Gonzalez and outgoing Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty have rid themselves of the investigation, in which they are engaged. Justice Department's No. 3 official, Assistant Attorney General William Mercer, serves as a serving and therefore not entitled to it. Asked what was discussed at the March 10, 2004 briefing Congress. Letter from the then Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte said a briefing on the administration of the terrorist surveillance program eve of the deadline. But Gonzalez, for Tuesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings have shown that the matter was not on the terrorist surveillance program, which allowed the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on suspects in the United States without prior court approval. Instead, Gonzalez said, an emergency meeting of 10 March 2004, focused on the intelligence of that description. He said the meeting had led him to go to bed sick then Attorney General John Ashcroft to recertify The observation, but he denied Ashcroft pressure to do so. Ashcroft, recovering from gallbladder surgery, declined. White House spokesman Tony Snow on Thursday defended Gonzales, but did not speak about the topic in 2004 briefing. `` Unfortunately, we are in the areas that you can not discuss,''said Snow. `` It is a very complex issue. But the Attorney General is continuing. The President supports it. I think at some point it will be something which will have to go behind closed doors and to discuss these issues. But I can not go further than that.''

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