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(AP) - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales confronted a
fresh call for his resignation from a fellow Republican Thursday as
he struggled to survive a bipartisan Senate challenge to his
credibility in the case of eight fired prosecutors.

      "The best way to put this behind us is your resignation," Sen.
Tom Coburn bluntly told Gonzales, one GOP conservative to another.

      Gonzales disagreed and told the Oklahoma senator he didn't know
that his departure would put the controversy to rest.

      The exchange punctuated a long day in the witness chair at a
Senate hearing for the attorney general, who doggedly advanced a
careful, lawyerly defense of the dismissals of the prosecutors. He
readily admitted mistakes, yet told lawmakers he had "never sought
to deceive them," and added he would make the same firings
decision again.

      "At the end of the day I know I did not do anything improper,"
he said.

      Gonzales sat alone at the witness table in a crowded room for
the widely anticipated hearing. There was no doubt about the stakes
involved for a member of President Bush's inner circle, and support
from fellow Republicans was critical to his attempt to hold his
job.

      "The moment I believe I can no longer be effective I will
resign as attorney general," Gonzales said after first making it
clear he did not believe it had come to that.

      The White House offered support. Spokeswoman Dana Perino told
reporters, "I think the president has full confidence" in his
attorney general.

      Struggling to save his credibility and perhaps his job, Gonzales
testified at least 45 times - before lunch - that he could not
recall events he was asked about.

      After a long morning in the witness chair, he returned to face
fresh Republican challenges to his credibility. "Why is your story
changing?" asked Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, noting that the
attorney general was now accepting responsibility for the firings
after initially saying he had played only a minor role.

      In response, Gonzales replied that his earlier answers had been
"overbroad" and the result of inadequate preparation.

      The process that led to the firings "should have been more
rigorous," he added, although he repeatedly defended the decisions
themselves.

      Moments later, Coburn delivered his verdict. He said the firing
issue was "handled incompetently. The communication was atrocious.
It's generous to say there were misstatements."

      "Since you apparently knew very little about the performance
about the replaced United States attorneys, how can you testify
that the judgment ought to stand?" asked Sen. Edward M. Kennedy,
D-Mass.

      Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked Gonzales whether he had
reviewed the evaluation records of the dismissed prosecutors, who
Justice Department officials initially said had been fired for
inadequate performance. He said he had not.

      Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., questioned Gonzales sharply over his
insistence that one former prosecutor, Carol Lam of California, had
been told of Justice Department concerns with her record on
immigration violations. The senator said Lam had testified to the
contrary.

      But given Gonzales' political need for Republican support, the
line of questioning from several GOP lawmakers was ominous.

      "We have to evaluate whether you are really being forthright,"
Sen. Arlen Specter bluntly informed the nation's chief law
enforcement officer.

      The Pennsylvania Republican said Gonzales' description of his
role in the firings was "significantly if not totally at variance
with the facts."

      "Most of this is a stretch," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said
after listening to Gonzales' explanation of the dismissals. "It's
clear to me that some of these people just had personality
conflicts with people in your office or the White House and (they)
just made up reasons to fire them."

      Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said he was concerned about
Gonzales' inability to recall a meeting he attended last November
when the firings were discussed.

      The attorney general began his turn as a witness after a
tongue-lashing from Sen. Patrick Leahy, the committee's chairman.

      "Today the Department of Justice is experiencing a crisis of
leadership perhaps unrivaled during its 137-year history," said
the Vermont Democrat. "There's a growing scandal swirling around
the dismissal" of prosecutors, he added.

      The hearing room was filled as Gonzales slid into the witness
chair at midmorning. Protesters wearing orange garb and pink police
costumes were among the spectators. The words "Arrest Gonzales"
were duct-taped to their backs.

      Gonzales has provided differing versions of the events
surrounding the firings, first saying he had almost no involvement
and later acknowledging that his role was larger - but only after
e-mails about meetings he attended were released by the Justice
Department to House and Senate committees.

      Urged in advance by Republicans to clear up any inconsistencies,
Gonzales spoke at times in careful, lawyerly terms.

      "I now understand there was a conversation with myself and the
president," he said at one point.

      Democrats have stoked the controversy over the dismissals,
suggesting there were political considerations. But the first
several hours of the hearing produced few if any fresh details.

      Gonzales acknowledged speaking with Bush and White House adviser
Karl Rove about complaints over election fraud cases in New Mexico,
where David Iglesias was the U.S. attorney.

      The conversation with Bush occurred on Oct. 11, Gonzales said.
Iglesias' name was added to the list of those to be fired between
Oct. 17 and Nov. 15 - a week after the November elections.


Gallery

Resignations in U.S. attorney's office "troubling"

Senators probe U.S. attorney firings

Bush says "mistakes were made," stands by Gonzales

Crime, Law and Justice

Politics and Government News

His job in jeopardy, Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales insisted Thursday he played only a small role in the dismissal of eight federal prosecutors. Skeptical senators reacted
with disbelief.


Gonzales faces skepticism from GOP, Democrats at Senate hearing

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