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 (AP) - Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation Monday, driven from
office after a wrenching standoff with congressional critics over
his honesty and competence.

      Republicans and Democrats alike had demanded his departure over
the botched handling of FBI terror investigations and the firings
of U.S. attorneys, but President Bush had defiantly stood by his
Texas friend for months until accepting his resignation last
Friday.

      "After months of unfair treatment that has created a harmful
distraction at the Justice Department, Judge Gonzales decided to
submit his resignation and I have accepted his decision," Bush
said from Texas, where he is vacationing.

      Solicitor General Paul Clement will be acting attorney general
until a replacement is found and confirmed by the Senate, Bush
said.

      Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff was among those
mentioned as possible successors, though a senior administration
official said the matter had not been raised with Chertoff. Bush
leaves Washington next Monday for Australia, and Gonzales'
replacement might not be named by then, the official said.

      "It has been one of my greatest privileges to lead the
Department of Justice," Gonzales said, announcing his resignation
effective Sept. 17 in a terse statement. He took no questions and
gave no reason for stepping down.

      Bush denounced what he called "unfair treatment" that he said
prevented Gonzales from adequately doing his job. He said the
attorney general's "good name was dragged through the mud for
political reasons."

      Though some Republicans echoed Bush's veiled slap at Democrats,
Gonzales had few defenders left on Capitol Hill.

 Many Republicans welcomed the departure of the embattled
attorney general, some quietly and others publicly so.

 "The attorney general's decision to step down is a positive
step forward for the Department of Justice," said Sen. Susan
Collins, R-Maine.

      "Attorney General Gonzales' ability to lead the Department of
Justice had been undermined by his serious errors in judgment and
conflicting statements," she said in a statement.

Congressional aides and lawmakers agreed that any nomination of
a new attorney general was almost certain to be acrimonious. The
easiest prospects, some said, might be a current or former
colleague of senators charged with the confirmation. 

Sen. Arlen
Specter, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, told
reporters Monday that he would not accept the job, if offered.

      But, he said, another current or former senator "might be just
the ticket."

      "If you have a former senator or a present senator or somebody
who is well known to the Senate or the committee...that's always a
big help if you know the person," Specter told reporters in a
telephone call as he traveled from Warsaw to Paris.

      Asked, too, about whether Chertoff might be a good candidate,
Specter replied:

      "I think he's a first-rate prospect."

 Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards applauded
Gonzales' resignation, saying it was "better late than never."

Both of Minnesota's U.S. senators say Gonzales' resignation creates an opportunity to restore public confidence in the Justice Department. Republic Norm Coleman said Gonzales had lost the credibility needed to effectively run the Justice Department. 

DFLer Amy Klobuchar said what happens next depends on who the president nominates to replace Gonzales.

"If the president is willing to nominate someone who is fair, and who's going to do their job without fear or favor -- and not let politics seep in -- there could be some real advantages to the country in terms of starting afresh on some of these issues," said Klobuchar.

Gonzales' announcement came as a surprise to many in the Bush
administration. Gonzales was tight-lipped about his thinking before
going on vacation more than a week ago, and aides were planning
events for the next several months.

      After spending time with his family in Texas, however, and
facing the prospect of returning to Washington for months of
continued fights with Congress, he called the president on Friday.

      The White House has asked anyone staying past Labor Day to stay
the remainder of the president's term.

      Gonzales, formerly Bush's White House counsel, served more than
two years at the Justice Department. In announcing his decision,
Gonzales reflected on his up-from-the-bootstraps life story; he's
the son of migrant farm workers from Mexico who didn't finish
elementary school.

      "Even my worst days as attorney general have been better than
my father's best days," Gonzales said.

      Bush steadfastly - and at times angrily - refused to give in to
critics, even from his own GOP, who argued that Gonzales should go.

      Earlier this month at a news conference, the president grew
irritated when asked about accountability in his administration and
turned the tables on the Democratic Congress.

      "Implicit in your questions is that Al Gonzales did something
wrong. I haven't seen Congress say he's done anything wrong," Bush
said testily at the time. 

Actually, many in Congress had accused
Gonzales of wrongdoing.

      After the 52-year-old Gonzales called Bush Friday, the president
had him come to lunch at his ranch on Sunday as a parting gesture,
a senior administration official said.

      Gonzales, whom Bush once considered for appointment to the
Supreme Court, is the fourth top-ranking administration official to
leave since November 2006.

      Donald H. Rumsfeld, an architect of the Iraq war, resigned as
defense secretary one day after the November elections.

      Paul Wolfowitz agreed in May to step down as president of the
World Bank after an ethics inquiry.

      Bush's top political and policy adviser, Karl Rove, announced
earlier this month that he was stepping down.

      Reacting to Gonzales' resignation, Senate Judiciary Committee
Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said that the Justice Department had
"suffered a severe crisis of leadership that allowed our justice
system to be corrupted by political influence."

  
As attorney general and earlier as White House counsel, Gonzales
pushed for expanded presidential powers, including the
eavesdropping authority. 

He drafted controversial rules for
military war tribunals and sought to limit the legal rights of
detainees at Guantanamo Bay - prompting lawsuits by civil
libertarians who said the government was violating the Constitution
in its pursuit of terrorists.

      "Alberto Gonzales was never the right man for this job. He
lacked independence, he lacked judgment, and he lacked the spine to
say no to Karl Rove," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,
D-Nev.

      In a warning to the White House, Reid suggested that
investigations into the Justice Department will not end until
Congress gets "to the bottom of this mess."

      One matter still under investigation is the 2006 dismissal of
several federal prosecutors, who serve at the president's pleasure.


Lawmakers said the action appeared to be politically motivated, and
some of the fired U.S. attorneys said they felt pressured to
investigate Democrats before elections.

      Gonzales maintained that the dismissals were based the
prosecutors' lackluster performance records.

      In April, Gonzales answered "I don't know" and "I can't
recall" scores of times while questioned by Congress about the
firings. Even some Republicans said his testimony was evasive.

      Not Bush. The president praised Gonzales' performance and said
the attorney general was "honest" and "honorable."

      In 2004, Gonzales pressed to reauthorize a secret domestic
spying program over the Justice Department's protests. Gonzales was
White House counsel at the time and during a dramatic hospital
confrontation he and then-White House chief of staff Andrew Card
sought approval from then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, who was
in intensive care recovering from surgery. Ashcroft refused.

      Similarly, Gonzales found himself on the defensive in early
March for the FBI's improper and, in some cases, illegal prying
into Americans' personal information during terror and spy probes.
      

Gallery

Heffelfinger: 'Shame on them'

No confidence in Gonzales

Coleman  joins in call for Gonzales resignation

Alberto Gonzales at the National Press Club

Gonzales faces skepticism from GOP, Democrats at Senate hearing

Bush says "mistakes were made," stands by Gonzales

Crime, Law and Justice

Courts

Politics and Government News

Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation Monday, driven from office after a wrenching standoff with congressional critics over
his honesty and competence.


U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has resigned in the wake of questions over his role in the firing of several U.S. attorneys.

Gonzales resigns as attorney general

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