Specter: Gonzales to face 'serious questions' on firings -- Gonzo's statement released. [View All]

[Patsy Stone]

Gonzo's hearing statement is released -- link in last paragraph:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/15/gonzales/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate Judiciary Committee's ranking Republican warned Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to avoid generalizations and "deal with the facts," two days before Gonzales is expected to answer questions about the dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys.

Sen. Arlen Specter's admonition came Sunday after The Washington Post published an editorial in which the embattled attorney general said he never asked that any prosecutor be fired "for an improper reason."

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"I think the attorney general is going to have to explain how he said he was not involved in discussions when the e-mails show that he was at the meeting when all of these matters were discussed," Specter said. "And he's going to have to show that there were reasons for what was said."

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Also Sunday, the Justice Department released a copy of remarks Gonzales will make during his Tuesday testimony before the Judiciary Committee. (What Gonzales will say, PDF)