Gonzales having trouble finding work

WASHINGTON, April 12 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has been having trouble finding a job since he resigned under a cloud, legal professionals said.

One Washington lawyer who did not want his name used said he knew a Gonzales associate had approached his firm.

"I wouldn't say 'rebuffed,'" the lawyer told The New York Times. "I would say 'not taken up.'"

Most of Gonzales' resume would make him a strong candidate for a prestigious job, the newspaper said. He served as counsel to George W. Bush when Bush was the governor of Texas and then when Bush became president, and he was a justice on the Texas Supreme Court before becoming attorney general.

At one point Gonzales appeared to be on track to be named the first Hispanic justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

However, his testimony before congressional committees investigating the firing of U.S. attorneys -- criticized as evasive and untruthful -- appears to have damaged his professional prospects, the Times said. Since his resignation, his only income has come from a few speaking engagements, for which he is paid $30,000 or more.

Protesters dressed as detainees greeted him at his first appearance, at the University of Florida.