WASHINGTON, March 11 (UPI) -- New York Sen. Charles Schumer Sunday criticized U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for putting politics above the law and called for him to resign.
"Attorney General Gonzales is a nice man," Schumer told CBS's "Face The Nation" host Bob Schieffer. "But he either doesn't accept or doesn't understand that he is no longer just the president's lawyer, but has a higher obligation to the rule of law and the Constitution, even when the president should not want it to be so."
The New York Democrat said Gonzales had been more political in Justice Department decisions that even former Attorney General John Ashcroft. Schumer cited alleged political firings of some U.S. attorneys because Republicans felt they were not prosecuting enough Democrats in their states.
Pennsylvania Sen. Arlene Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, reserved judgment. "I do think there have been lots of problems," said Specter, "but we need to know more facts."
He said the fate of Gonzales was "a question for the president and the attorney general."
