"I hope that history will remember Attorney General Gonzales for his honorable service to his country, rather than for the absurd political theater to which some critics have subjected him," Hatch said in a statement. "He has overseen the Department of Justice's efforts to protect children from Internet predators, to combat human trafficking, and to prevent the spread of meth in our communities."

Outside the Justice Department's main building, one member of the group Code Pink played a tambourine while the other sang "hey hey hey — goodbye," into a megaphone at cars going down Constitution Avenue. Code Pink members, known for showing up at congressional hearings dressed in pink police officer uniforms, have repeatedly carried banners asking Gonzales to resign. A poster showed a list with check marks next to "Libby," for Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff who was convicted of lying and obstructing investigation in a CIA leak case ; "Rove," for Karl Rove, Bush's deputy chief of staff, who announced his resignation two weeks ago; and "Gonzo" for the attorney general; with empty boxes next to Bush and Cheney.

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