Democrats press anew for answers regarding firings of U.S. attorneys

WASHINGTON — Democrats pressed for more answers on the firings of U.S. attorneys Thursday even as Attorney General Alberto Gonzales insisted he hasn't remembered any new details. Republicans demanded that the investigation be closed.

"My feelings and recollections about this matter have not changed," Gonzales told the House Judiciary Committee, three weeks after telling a Senate panel he couldn't recall specific conversations or details in response to more than 70 questions.

Democrats showed no willingness to quit asking questions about whether White House officials ordered the firings of prosecutors not sufficiently loyal to the Bush administration.

"The department's most precious asset — its reputation for integrity and independence — has been called into question," said committee chairman John Conyers, D-Mich. "Until we get to the bottom of how this list was created, and why, those doubts will persist."

"Cooperate with us," Conyers appealed to Gonzales.

"I'm trying, Mr. Chairman," the attorney general replied.

Having survived months of calls for his resignation, Gonzales appeared less nervous. He acknowledged a sinking morale at the Justice Department in the wake of the prosecutor firings but made it clear he plans to remain as attorney general — despite what he described as his mistakes in overseeing the dismissals. Republican lawmakers echoed his call that it's time to move on.

"The list of accusations has mushroomed, but the evidence of wrongdoing has not," said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the committee's senior GOP member. "If there are no fish in this lake, we should reel in our lines of questions, dock our empty boat and turn to more pressing issues."

Under persistent questioning Thursday about who originated the list of prosecutors to be fired, Gonzales maintained his former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, put it together after gathering information from other senior officials in the Justice Department.

"I understood it to be the consensus of the senior leadership of the department," Gonzales said. He acknowledged, however, that presidential adviser Karl Rove raised concerns with Gonzales about voter fraud prosecutions in three jurisdictions, including New Mexico. David Iglesias, the U.S. attorney there, was later fired.