Bill Clinton: “as part of the PATRIOT Act's reauthorization in 2006, Congress bestowed upon the Attorney General new authority to…”

“as part of the PATRIOT Act's reauthorization in 2006, Congress bestowed upon the Attorney General new authority to appoint interim U.S. attorneys indefinitely, without any independent oversight. The Department of Justice proceeded to abuse this provision to orchestrate a series of firings of U.S. attorneys. An ever-growing body of evidence reveals that the firings were little more than a political purge. To defend its conduct, the Department of Justice gave Congress misleading testimony about these politically motivated firings, tarnishing the professional reputations of these U.S. attorneys in the process. Sadly, this is only the latest in a long series of episodes that call into question the independence and the leadership of an Attorney General more concerned with advancing a partisan agenda than impartially enforcing the law. It is unacceptable that the Attorney General has allowed his loyalty to the President to politicize the Department of Justice and corrupt the administration of justice. Because his conduct is unbecoming an Attorney General, I have called on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign his post. For these same reasons I support and am a cosponsor of Senator Feinstein's Preserving United States Attorney Independence Act of 2007, which would reinstate the process for the appointment of interim U.S. attorneys that existed for 20 years prior to 2006.”