Thompson says Gonzales resignation long overdue

Congressman Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, called today's resignation of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales "long overdue."

“The evidence that U.S. attorneys were fired for political purposes has mounted for almost a year, and the credibility of our nation's justice system has increasingly suffered. Rather than ‘fix the problems' as he promised, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has only stonewalled Congress' attempt to hold the Bush Administration accountable and has given questionable testimony about his own involvement," noted Thompson.

Thompson, Chairman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Terrorism, Human Intelligence, Analysis and Counterintelligence, sent a letter to President Bush five months ago calling for the resignation of Gonzales.

“The House Intelligence Committee will be crafting new legislation to replace the flawed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the law that governs the surveillance of foreign targets for intelligence purposes. We need a law that allows us to collect information on those who threaten our nation's security, without violating the rights of law-abiding Americans. FISA should also be altered to ensure that an independent court, not the Bush Administration, determines when the communications of Americans need to be monitored.”