WASHINGTON -- Embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales yesterday denied any role in the dismissal of eight United States attorneys but was tripped up when a pointed question by chairman Patrick Leahy, D- Vt., provoked him into firing the entire committee. "That's it. Clear out your desks and go home," Gonzales snapped after Leahy asked him if he had ever spoken with White House adviser Karl Rove about the firings.
Several Republican committee members mumbled apologies and began to leave the room before Leahy called them back, saying he did not believe Gonzales had the power to fire a United States senator.
"My understanding is that we're covered under Article I of the Constitution and the executive branch is covered under a separate article," Sen. Leahy told the members. "I don't recall an attorney general ever firing a senator."
Gonzales cited provisions of the recently renewed Patriot Act, the War Powers Act and the warranty on a recently purchased Dyson Vacuum cleaner which he said allow the executive branch to fire members of the senate during times of war "or extreme annoyance."
"What I said about 'you're fired,' it means you're fired. Get out," Gonzales said.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said that he sensed "an impending Constitutional impasse" between the two branches over the firing and suggested a deeper examination of the legal implications "by the members of the Senate who are still in office which, apparently, we are not." He then voted to abstain from a position but quickly reversed himself when other Judiciary members pointed out that no vote was being taken and that, even if there were, apparently they're all fired.
The abrupt dismissal of the committee by the attorney general elicited a mixed reaction. Republican minority leader Dennis Hastert called the dismissals "proof positive that our Constitution works" and called Gonzales' action, "another example of how this administration intends to stand up to America's enemies, whether they are Islamic fascists or ordinary Americans." Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean called the action "another reason I plan to punch the next guy I meet square in the nose." Dean then hurled a chair at a television news crew and bit the ear off one of his aides.
