Press Conference with Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee

Interview

PRESS CONFERENCE WITH SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER (D-NY), MEMBER OF THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
TOPIC: THE RESIGNATION OF U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL ALBERTO GONZALES

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SEN. SCHUMER: (In progress) -- scandal came to light, justice -- (inaudible) -- served in the Justice Department.

The attorney general long ago lost the confidence of the American people and a majority of both parties in Congress. It's been a long and difficult struggle, but at last the attorney general has done the right thing and stepped down. For the previous six months, the Justice Department has been virtually nonfunctional and desperately needs new leadership.

I don't know why it took the president so long to come to the same conclusion, but I'm glad he did -- four months after I first called for the attorney general to step down.

Now it will be up to the White House to choose a replacement who is, above all, a professional, not a partisan, not a pal. Unlike the last time, he needs to pick the best person, not his best friend.

Democrats will not obstruct or impede a nominee who we are confident will put the rule of law first, above political considerations. We beseech, we implore the administration to work with us, to nominate someone whom Democrats can support and whom America can be proud of.

For more than six months the Justice Department has been in complete disarray. Scandal after scandal after scandal has mired the department and created a vacuum of leadership. Today the top three positions at the department are all vacant. There is no attorney general, no deputy attorney general, no associate attorney general. The lack of leadership has taken its toll on this department, whose mission is a sacred one: to uphold the rule of law. And this department is of unparalleled importance to our government and our society, too important to let languish.

It is unclear which straw -- there were many -- broke the camel's back, but it was clear that there were plenty of straws to choose from. The attorney general presided over the political firings of U.S. attorneys and then stonewalled any attempt to find out the truth. The attorney general presided over a Civil Rights Division within his department that was in complete disarray, with resignation after resignation after resignation. The attorney general conducted the department's affairs based on political ideology, not the rule of law. The attorney general sought to mislead Congress. Even when asked the pointed of questions, he seemed to put wriggling away from the truth far above telling the truth. With every statement, he was always trying to get out of an uncomfortable position that he had put himself in by not telling the truth previously.

So under this attorney general, sadly, the Department of Justice had less credibility than even FEMA.

Under Alberto Gonzales, the Department of Justice was a sinking ship.

The president now has an opportunity to right the ship and chart a new course. I hope and pray he does so. We Democrats want to work with the president to steer this ship so that in the Justice Department the prevailing winds are those of rule of law, not politics. It's now up to the White House to pick a replacement who will put the rule of law first and politics at the bottom of the list.

And today I say to the White House that we Democrats implore you to work with us. Don't choose the path of confrontation and throw down the gauntlet with a nominee that we will find it difficult to accept. We are willing to meet you in the middle of the road. All we ask is that you choose somebody who puts rule of law first. We're not looking for confrontation here. Ideally, the White House will come to us, work with us, and there will be no confrontation over this.

Here are the criteria we are looking for. A person who can be a true leader rather than a lightning rod. A unifier, not a divider. A person for whom the rule of law is a bedrock principle rather than an empty slogan. A person of unimpeachable integrity. A person who has experience and can hit the ground running.

There are many, many, many people who fit this bill. Ideologically they may not be the same as any one of us, but as long as they put the rule of law first, we can find common ground on a nominee. The Justice Department is too important to be trifled with.

Ready for your questions.

Q Were you surprised by this? Were you surprised to hear this? And how about the timing in regards to this announcement?

SEN. SCHUMER: Well, first, as you know, I had called for this about four months ago. I guess I was the first to call for the attorney general to step down.

What I really found surprising was it took so long for the president and the administration to come to their senses. You had an attorney general who had completely lost faith with the 90,000 employees in the Justice Department, with the Congress, and most importantly, with the American people. It was clear to anyone who watched even five minutes of the hearings that he was doing everything he could to avoid telling the truth. It was clear when you looked at all the facts of the U.S. attorneys being fired that something was really rotten. And had he early on owned up to it and said a mistake was made and here's what I'm going to do to correct it, he could have saved his job. But he never did.

So I guess what surprised me is not that he's stepping down and not that the president accepted his resignation, but that it took so darned long.

Q Some might say you sound as though you're braced for some further confrontation with the White House or that you're kind of bracing for more bad news.

SEN. SCHUMER: Well, I hope not. No, there are many names -- I've suggest some in the past -- who would ideologically be much closer to President Bush than to Chuck Schumer or Pat Leahy or Harry Reid.

But as long as we feel they put the rule of law first, then we will seek to avoid confrontation or we -- the Justice Department is in such great need of leadership for every American -- Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative -- at a time of terrorism, at a time of crime rates rising, at a time of so many other issues, that we're willing to bury the gauntlet as long as the White House meets us part of the way.

We want to look forward, not back. There were lots of mistakes that were made. But if we can get someone good to run the Justice Department, that is our firmest wish, and we'll cooperate with the president.

Q Senator Schumer, what effect will Gonzales's stepping down have on the numerous investigations that going on -- the wiretapping, attorney general --

SEN. SCHUMER: Okay, look, the investigations will have to continue. There is no question about that. But if the president nominates an attorney general who puts rule of law first, that attorney general will say, let's find out what went wrong, let's correct it and let's move on. And he will find a welcoming hand from the Congress if that new attorney general does it.

So you can't just say with Attorney General Gonzales, these investigations should be pushed under the rug. But what you can say with a new attorney general -- there'll be cooperation, there'll be compromise, we can see what happened, put rules and laws into place so it doesn't happen again and move on.

Q Senator, Gonzales's resignation is one of several high- level officials who are leaving the Bush administration. What do you gather from all the --

SEN. SCHUMER: That's a good question. I've thought about that. I hope that this is a dawn of a new era for the Bush administration. With Rove and Gonzales leaving and with Josh Bolten and Ed Gillespie seeming to have the upper hand, maybe there'll be a new attitude, one that entails cooperation, working together for the good of the country rather than just partisan fighting. I think this could indicate that. I don't think it's mere coincidence that Gonzales left after Rove left. I don't think it's mere coincidence.

And just one other thing I'd remind people of -- in 1986, Ronald Reagan's second term, in the middle of it, he was in trouble. And what he did is he changed course. He brought in Howard Baker, he brought in a whole new bunch of people, and we've had a great two years.

You know, I hope George Bush takes a page from Ronald Reagan's book. It's too early to tell. But the timing of the Gonzales -- after so many months of him saying, "No, never" -- of it happening now, right after Rove leaves -- Bolten brings on Gillespie -- hopefully that's a change overall in how this administration will operate.

Q Senator, you said this might be the dawn of a new era. Is there anyone else (who needs to ?) leave the White House?

SEN. SCHUMER: Well, I'm not going to go around and, you know, point fingers. But, you know, it's up to the president. He gets lots of different sets of advice. My understanding is there was a large faction in the White House that always wanted Gonzales to leave, but there was an equally strong faction against him leaving; don't give in no matter how bad it is. And maybe the former faction, the one that wants to deal with governing and working with the Congress and the American people, is one that's now gaining the upper hand. I hope so.

Q I have another question. You said you could stand behind -- (off mike) -- stand behind a nominee who won't impede -- puts the rule of law above everything else. Do you think Mr. Chertoff can be --

SEN. SCHUMER: Okay. You know, the name of Mr. Chertoff has been brought about. I think that many of us -- and I talked to Senator Leahy about this this morning a little bit -- many of us have some doubts about Michael Chertoff. First, administrative. Obviously, the Homeland Security Department is not one of the better-run departments in this administration. The kind of mess-ups that we've seen on issue after issue after issue are worrisome. The Justice Department is as difficult an agency to manage as Homeland Security.

The second issue, of course, and the most important issue is rule of law first. And some people have raised questions, when Mr. Chertoff was in legal positions, was that the paramount issue. That's something that will have to be explored.

So I would say there are a lot of questions about Michael Chertoff that will have to be answered. I wouldn't say yes, I wouldn't say no. It's an open book. It's possible, but it's hardly a slam-dunk. There are some names who could be a slam-dunk.

Q (Off mike.)

SEN. SCHUMER: Well, I'm not going to -- I know, I know. (Laughter.) There are other names out there. I'm not going to get into names today. I will be quietly suggesting some names to people in the White House. But I think right now, laying out the criteria is more important than putting names out. And you don't want to create a division. You don't want a Democratic name out there at this point in time. We want somebody who the president feels comfortable with but the Congress and the American people feel comfortable with as well.

Q So a Democrat.

SEN. SCHUMER: No, we -- I have no illusions that the person will be a Democrat. It would be nice, but.

Q Do you think this is less a change of course than the Republicans trying to salvage something in the run-up to '08?

SEN. SCHUMER: No, I think it's -- it could be a real change of course because there has always been a school in the White House that just says, battle, battle, battle, battle; never let your guard down; never say you made a mistake, even when you did. That has led to President Bush's low ratings. That has led to the lack of confidence that the American people have in the president on domestic issues, on the war in Iraq and on Alberto Gonzales. They're all sort of the same. And maybe there will be a change here. When the president ran in 2000, he said he wanted to be a unifier, not a divider. Maybe it's not too late.

Okay.

Q Thank you very much.

SEN. SCHUMER: Thank you.

END.

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