Beleaguered U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will officially quit from his post effective September 17th according to a statement from him this morning. "I have lived the American dream," said the Mexican American Gonzales in his account after news reports earlier this morning hinted at his resignation.Gonzales’ tenure as Attorney General had been filled with controversy over several issues like the accused partisan firing of eight federal attorneys and his staunch support of a warrentless domestic spying program. Bipartisan opposition to Gonzales had been growing over the past months and that has been reflected in reactions from several prominent Democrats and Republicans today:
“Better late than never."
-Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards
"I'm glad he's stepping down so the department can move forward with its important work."
-Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
President Bush blamed Gonzales’ critics for creating “months of unfair treatment” leading to his resignation is expected to publicly comment on Gonzales’ resignation at approximately 11:50am. Bush has always been a strong supporter of Gonzales and publicly defended him as recently as August 9th.
Solicitor General Paul Clement will be acting attorney general though rumor has it that Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff is one of the favorites to succeed Gonzales.
Sources- BBC News, CNN, ABC Online, Wikipedia, RTE, FOX News, The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, Forbes
Image- CBC
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