Transcript of NBC News Interview With Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales

    WASHINGTON, March 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a
 transcript of NBC news interview with Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales:
     PETE WILLIAMS: Mr. Attorney General, what is it that you would like
 people to know about this controversy?
     ATTORNEY GENERAL ALBERTO R. GONZALES: Let me begin with the attacks on
 my credibility, which really have pained me and my family. You know, I have
 grown up -- I grew up with nothing but my integrity. And someday, when I
 leave this office, I am confident that I will leave with my integrity. The
 United States Attorneys that were asked to resign were appointed by this
 President, they serve, like me, at the pleasure of the President.
     I asked for their resignation not for improper reasons. I would never
 have asked for their resignations to interfere with a public corruption
 case or in any way to interfere with an ongoing investigation. I just
 wouldn't do that. And if you look carefully at the documentation we've
 provided to Congress, there's no evidence of that.
     But just to be sure, I've asked the Office of Professional
 Responsibility at the department to look into this. And they will be
 working, along with the Office of Inspector General, to make it clear and
 reassure the American people that nothing improper happened here. Our
 record in public corruption at the department is extremely strong. And I
 think if you look at the record, you'll see that whether or not you're a
 governor, whether or not you're a member of Congress, whether or not you're
 a deputy secretary at a Cabinet agency, whether or not you're a local
 official, whether or not you're Republican, whether or not you're Democrat,
 we have an obligation.
     We've upheld that obligation to ensure that public officials do not
 violate the public's trust. I believe in truth and accountability, Pete.
 And everything that I've done is supportive of that principle. I directed
 the Department to turn over 3,000 pages of documents.
     I directed the Department officials participate in interviews and
 hearings before the Congress. As I've indicated, I've asked OPR to be
 involved, to work with the Office of Inspector General so we can reassure
 the American public that nothing improper happened here. I've got nothing
 to hide in terms of what I've done. And we now want to reassure the
 American public that nothing improper happened here.
     If I find out that, in fact, any of these decisions were motivated, the
 recommendations to me were motivated for improper reasons to interfere with
 the public corruption case, there will be swift and -- there will be swift
 and decisive action. I can assure you that.
     PETE WILLIAMS: Meaning people would be fired?
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Absolutely. Because there is no place for
 that. Our prosecutors have to -- there has to be no question about the
 integrity, the professionalism, undue influence of prosecutions in
 connection with public corruption kinds of cases. And if I find out that
 any of that occurred here involving the Department of Justice officials,
 yes, they will be removed.
     PETE WILLIAMS: Can you answer some of the questions that have come up
 over the weekend? As you know, there was an email that came out Friday
 night that showed that ten days before the firings there was a meeting in
 your office, which you attended to discuss the firings. And yet when you
 talked to us here at the Justice Department two weeks ago, you said you
 were not involved in any discussions about the firings. Can you explain
 what seems like a contradiction?
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Let me just say, a wise senator recently
 told me that when you say something that is either being misunderstood or
 can be misunderstood, you need to try to correct the record and make the
 record clear. Let me try to be more precise about my involvement. When I
 said on March 13th that I wasn't involved, what I meant was that I had not
 been involved, was not involved in the deliberations over whether or not
 United States Attorneys should resign.
     After I became Attorney General, I had Kyle Sampson coordinate a
 department review of the performance of United States Attorneys. And I
 expected him to consult with appropriate Department of Justice officials
 who had information and knowledge about the performance of United States
 Attorneys. From time to time, Mr. Sampson would tell me something that
 would confirm in my mind that that process was ongoing.
     For example, I recall him mentioning to me that inquiry from the White
 House about where were we in identifying underperformers? And there are
 other similar type reminders that occurred during this process that I'm
 going to discuss specifically with the Congress.
     I was never focused on specific concerns about United States Attorneys
 as to whether or not they should be asked to resign. I was more focused on
 identify-- or making sure that the White House was appropriately advised of
 the progress of our review. And I was also concerned to ensure that the
 appropriate Department of Justice officials, people who knew about the
 performance of United States Attorneys, that they were involved in the
 process.
     Now, of course, ultimately at the end of the process or near the end of
 the process, the recommendations were presented to me. There had been a lot
 of work done to review the performance of these United States Attorneys.
 And recommendations were presented to me that reflected the recommendations
 of Kyle Sampson and of others in the department. And so there was obviously
 a discussion with respect to that recommendation.
     And, of course having decided there will be changes, there was a
 discussion about how do we implement this change? And so that is, in
 essence, the context of my involvement and the substance of my comments on
 March 13th.
     PETE WILLIAMS: So you didn't get into the decision about specifically
 which US Attorneys to include on this list until the very end?
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Absolutely. Now, that's not to say that
 during the process I may not have heard about the performance or a
 particular matter with respect to the United States Attorney. For example,
 we've already confirmed that Senator Domenici did call me about the
 performance of the United States Attorney in New Mexico.
     The President, the White House has already confirmed that there was a
 conversation with the President, mentioned it to me in a meeting at the
 Oval Office, in terms of concerns about the commitment to pursue voter
 fraud cases in three jurisdictions around the country. I don't remember
 that conversation, but what I'm saying is, is during the process there may
 have been other conversations about specifically about the performance of
 US attorneys. But I wasn't involved in the deliberations as to whether or
 not a particular United States Attorney should or should not be asked to
 resign.
     PETE WILLIAMS: By the way, do you-
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Let me just, I don't recall being involved.
 Let me be more precise because I know that with respect to this particular
 topic, people parse carefully the words that I use. And I want to be
 careful about what I say. And, of course, at the end of the day, I will
 have the opportunity to present my story to the Congress, as will other DOJ
 officials -- Department of Justice officials.
     PETE WILLIAMS: You mentioned the conversations with the president. What
 role did they play in deciding which US Attorneys would be on the list?
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: As far as I know, Pete, they did not play a
 role in adding names or taking off names. Now, obviously these are
 appointees of the President. The White House was involved in placing them
 in their position. The White House would have to be at least informed if a
 decision was going to be asked, to ask for people's resignation.
     There's nothing improper about that. And, of course, there's nothing
 improper about the White House communicating, as a general matter,
 complaints about Department of Justice employees. I want to know if, in
 fact, the White House has received a complaint or has concerns about the
 performance of a department employee, I would want to know about it. And
 I'd like to hear, I'd like to hear it from the White House.
     PETE WILLIAMS: So the list came to you toward the end for you to sign
 off on. But you were not involved in deciding who should be on or off the
 list during the process.
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: I was not involved in the deliberations
 during the process as to who -- who should or should not be -- asked to
 resign.
     PETE WILLIAMS: If that--
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: I depended on the people who knew about how
 those United States Attorneys were performing, people within the department
 who would have personal knowledge of, about these individuals, who would
 have, based upon their experience, would know what would be the appropriate
 standards that a United States attorney should be asked to achieve.
     PETE WILLIAMS: Given that, then how can you be certain that none of
 these U.S. attorneys were put on that list for improper reasons?
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: What I can say is this: I know the reasons
 why I asked these United States Attorneys to leave. And it was not for
 improper reasons. It was not to interfere with the public corruption case.
 It was not for partisan reasons.
     We also know that there's nothing in the documents that indicates that
 they were asked to leave for improper reasons. But all, but lastly, just to
 be sure, I have asked for an internal review by the Office of Professional
 Responsibility, working with the Office of Inspector General. And, of
 course, the Congress is going to be doing its own review, because I want to
 know as well if, in fact, there were improper reasons, we should know about
 it. And there will be accountability.
     PETE WILLIAMS: To put this question another way: if you didn't review
 their performance during this process, then how can you be certain that
 they were fired for performance reasons?
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: I've given the answer to the question, Pete.
 I know the reasons why I made the decision. Again, there's nothing in the
 documents to support the allegation that there was anything improper here.
 And there is an internal department review to answer that question, to
 reassure the American people that there was nothing improper that happened
 here.
     PETE WILLIAMS: Given that, how difficult is it going to be -- you just
 said there's a shortage of documentation here -- how hard is it going to be
 to make the case to Congress that they were not fired for improper reasons
 if there isn't a lot of documentation on the reasons they were put on the
 list?
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: I didn't, I don't think that I said there
 was a shortage of documentation. Listen, what I will say is this. The
 evaluations of individual United States attorneys is not solely contained
 within the documents.
     Obviously, people have personal observations, personal views that may
 not be reflected in those documents. Those will be presented to the
 Congress at the appropriate time.
     PETE WILLIAMS: May I just, with Tasia's forbearance, ask you one final
 question. Obviously you've chosen to stay and fight this issue. Why?
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: I think that every Cabinet official has to
 ask themselves -- every day -- Is it still appropriate for me to lead a
 Cabinet department? It's something that I've been asking myself more lately
 than perhaps others. Because at the end of the day, it's not about Alberto
 Gonzales. It's about this great Department of Justice that does so many
 wonderful things for the American people. And our record here in the past
 two years in the area of civil rights, in the area of protecting our kids
 against child predators, protecting the country against terrorism, making
 our neighborhoods safe from drugs and gangs has really been outstanding.
     Also about public corruption, our public corruption record has been
 tremendous. So we've done some great things. I believe that that can still
 continue. Obviously I -- we have to deal with this situation with the
 Congress. We have to reassure the American people that nothing improper
 happened here.
     And I'm confident we'll be able to do that. But I also believe that we
 can still move forward and still continue to do great things for the
 American people. And as long as I have the confidence of the President, I
 intend to do just that.
     PETE WILLIAMS: Mr. Attorney General, thank you.
     ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Thanks, Pete.
 
 

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice