On his March 14 broadcast, Newsradio 850 KOA host “Gunny” Bob Newman implied that U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has come under fire solely from Democrats recently because of controversial actions during his tenure. In fact, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have rebuked Gonzales, including Republican Sen. John Sununu (NH), who has called for Gonzales' resignation.

Newman recounted Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert S. Mueller's recent admission that the agency had “improperly, and at times illegally, used the USA Patriot Act," as the Associated Press (AP) reported on March 14, and the resultant criticism of Gonzales. Newman then asserted, “And the Democrats are also mad at Gonzales for firing eight federal prosecutors and then supposedly, they say, misleading Congress about why they were fired.”

Newman was referring to what the AP article identified as “a two-year campaign by the Justice Department and White House to purge federal prosecutors.” Indeed, members of the Democratic Party have condemned the U.S. attorneys' dismissals, echoing Sen. Charles E. Schumer's (D-NY) charge that "[t]his purge was based purely on politics, to punish prosecutors who were perceived to be too light on Democrats or too tough on Republicans."

But contrary to Newman's implication that only Democrats have rebuked Gonzales, widespread reporting has noted that numerous members of the GOP have also stepped forward as sharp critics. As the AP reported:

Republicans also said they were outraged at being misled over the circumstances of the firings. GOP Rep. James Sensenbrenner, a Judiciary Committee member, said the situation could cause Gonzales to “die by a thousand cuts.”

[...]

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said the dismissal of the U.S. attorney in Las Vegas was “completely mishandled by the United States attorney general.” And Sensenbrenner warned that the Justice Department was “going to have to come up with some answers” in explaining the firings.

“If they don't, they're going to lose everyone's confidence,” Sensenbrenner said. “What I'd like to hear is the truth.”

In a separate March 14 article, the AP reported, “Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire on Wednesday became the first Republican in Congress to call for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' dismissal, hours after President Bush expressed confidence in his embattled Cabinet officer.”

As the AP noted on March 12, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has “suggested that a Gonzales tenure may have run its course.”

But further alleging that the uproar is based largely on partisan politics, Newman also made misleading comparisons between the Gonzales Justice Department's firing of the eight U.S. attorneys and former President Clinton's purging the agency of “all 93 federal prosecutors” early in his first term. As Newman stated:

[Democrats] didn't have anything to say back in March of 1993 when Bill Clinton came into power -- in January of '93 -- two months later, he fired all 93 federal prosecutors -- every one of them, gone, fired. No reasons given -- oh, you're all fired. Just like that. They weren't screaming then.

However, as Media Matters for America noted, a March 13 McClatchy Newspapers article headlined “Current situation is distinct from Clinton firings of U.S. attorneys” noted that "[m]ass firings of U.S. attorneys are fairly common when a new president takes office, but not in a second-term administration." The article added that “Justice Department officials acknowledged it would be unusual for the president to oust his own appointees.”

As the AP further reported, the Bush administration in fact considered the mass firings in February 2005 while White House Counsel Harriet Miers was engaged in discussions with Gonzales' chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, who has since resigned amid the scandal. According to the AP, “Miers suggested the possibility of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys.” But as the article noted, “Such purges of the political appointees often come at the beginning of a new president's administration, not midway through.”

From the March 14 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Gunny Bob Show:

NEWMAN: Then there's U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, under fire from the Democrats, who say that he should resign or be fired because the FBI has sometimes misused the Patriot Act. I warned for five years that those using the Patriot Act must be well led to avoid it being misused. But the Patriot Act was an important tool; you know, it -- it is an important tool in the world -- in the war on terror. I warned that the liberals would be waiting for a lack of leadership in this realm and that as soon as the Patriot Act was misused, they'd use the misuse as an excuse to weaken the Patriot Act and harm our national defense. This has now come to pass just as I warned. FBI director Robert Mueller says he's the man responsible for the misuse. So who should receive what, if any, punishment for this embarrassment and misuse of a critical national security tool? Hillary is calling for Gonzales to resign because of this issue, but she has far, far more scandals under her belt than Gonzales could ever dream of having. Her calls for his resignation, to me at least, gang, are the -- are the very height of hypocrisy. But that doesn't bother her, since that's her MO in the first place. And the Democrats are also mad at Gonzales for firing eight federal prosecutors and then supposedly, they say, misleading Congress about why they were fired. But yet they didn't have anything to say back in March of 1993 when Bill Clinton came into power -- in January of '93 -- two months later, he fired all 93 federal prosecutors -- every one of them, gone, fired. No reasons given -- oh, you're all fired. Just like that. They weren't screaming then.

[...]

NEWMAN: Fire at will: the political career assassination game in Washington. I'm not sure if I can recall another time in American history when so many people have been calling for so many other people to be fired or be forced to resign. I mean, it's as if they're playing a game. If one side can get the other side to fire more people, or make them resign, then the other side -- then that side wins.

[...]

NEWMAN: Alberto Gonzales. You know who that is, right? U.S. Attorney General. Hillary is leading the charge for him to be fired 'cause she doesn't like how he fired eight federal prosecutors -- prosecutors, even though her husband, in March of '93, two months after coming into office, fired all 93, all at once, one fell swoop. That was OK with her. But in this case, it's -- it's not. See, it's different now, because he's a Republican.