Senators challenge Gonzales' truthfulness

By Thomas Ferraro and James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales drew fire at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday where lawmakers challenged his truthfulness and ability to lead his scandal-rocked Justice Department.

"The attorney general's lost the confidence of the Congress and the American people," said Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat. He described the department as "shrouded in scandal," and told Gonzales: "I don't trust you."

"It looks to me ... as if the department is dysfunctional," added Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the committee's ranking Republican and a leading critic of Gonzales, particularly for his firing of nine federal prosecutors.

"What keeps you in the job, Mr. Attorney General?" asked Sen. Herbert Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat.

"I have decided to stay and fix the problems," replied Gonzales, whose department has been battered by allegations that politics played a role in hiring practices and the administration of justice.

Gonzales, with the support of President George W. Bush, has rejected calls to resign in recent months from Democrats as well as some fellow Republicans in Congress.

Yet Democrats have stepped up pressure on the attorney general and the administration to answer questions as they head toward a possible court fight over Bush's claim of executive privilege in denying lawmakers access to documents and witnesses.

Gonzales refused to answer when asked if the White House was on solid legal ground in contending Congress cannot force the Justice Department to pursue a possible congressional contempt citation against the administration or its current or former aides.

'I'M NOT GOING TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION'

"Your question relates to an ongoing controversy which I am recused from," Gonzales told Leahy. "I can't -- I'm not going to answer that question."

Since shortly after taking control of Congress in January, Democrats have been investigating Gonzales' firing last year of nine of the 93 U.S. attorneys. Critics charge partisan politics were behind the dismissals. The White House denies it.

Specter urged the administration to consider appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the firings.

Gonzales was asked about testimony in May by a former aide, Monica Goodling. She said that although Gonzales had earlier testified he had not discussed the probe with colleagues, he had raised the topic with her shortly before she left the Justice Department.

"Which one of you is telling the truth?" Leahy asked.

"I did have that conversation with her in the context of trying to console and reassure an emotionally distraught woman," Gonzales said. "I tried to reassure her (that) as far as I knew no one had done anything intentionally wrong."