The resignation statement in full

Comment Central: Reaction to the Gonzalez resignation

Alberto Gonzales, America's first Hispanic attorney general, announced his resignation today, ending a nasty, months long stand off over his honesty and competence at the helm of the Justice Department.

Republicans and Democrats alike had demanded Mr Gonzales's resignation over the botched handling of FBI terror investigations and the dismissals of United States attorneys.

President George W. Bush had stood defiantly by his Texas friend until accepting his resignation on Friday. “It has been one of my greatest privileges to lead the Department of Justice,” Mr Gonzales said today, announcing his resignation, effective as of September 17.

A longtime friend of Mr Bush, who once considered him for appointment to the US Supreme Court, Mr Gonzales is the fourth high-ranking administration official to leave since November 2006. Donald H. Rumsfeld, an architect of the Iraq war, resigned as Defense Secretary one day after the November elections gave Democrats majorities in both chambers of Congress.

Paul Wolfowitz, another major personality behind the war, agreed in May to step down as president of the World Bank after an ethics inquiry. Top Bush political adviser Karl Rove announced this month that he was quitting.

Mr Gonzales served more than two years as the first Latino attorney general, the United States’ top law enforcer. Lawmakers had voiced doubts about his truthfulness in combative and often evasive testimony to Congress, involving both the FBI’s conduct in investigating suspected terrorists and whether Mr Gonzales’ department fired a number of federal investigators for political reasonsin collaboration with the White House.

Solicitor General Paul Clement, the government’s top lawyer, will be acting attorney general until a replacement is found, said administration officials.

Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff was among those mentioned as possible successors. However, a senior administration official said the matter had not been raised with Mr Chertoff.

President Bush leaves Washington next Monday for Australia and Mr Gonzales’ replacement may not be named by then.

“Better late than never,” said Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, summing up the response of many in Washington to Mr Gonzales’ resignation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Mr Gonzales “was never the right man for this job. He lacked independence, he lacked judgment, and he lacked the spine to say no to Karl Rove.”

Mr Reid said Mr Gonzales’ record still faces scrutiny. “This resignation is not the end of the story. Congress must get to the bottom of this mess and follow the facts where they lead, into the White House,” Mr Reid warned.

President Bush steadfastly, at times angrily, refused to give in to critics, even from his own Republican Party, who argued that Mr Gonzales should go. The president grew irritated at a news conference this month when asked about a perceived lack

of accountability in his administration and turned the tables on the Democratic Congress. “Implicit in your questions is that Al Gonzales did something wrong. I haven’t seen Congress say he’s done anything wrong,” Mr Bush said testily.

Mr Gonzales, 52, called the President on Friday to inform him of his resignation. The two men had lunch at the President's Crawford, Texas, ranch on Sunday as a parting gesture.

Reacting to Monday’s developments, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, said Mr Gonzales’ department had “suffered a severe crisis of leadership that allowed our justice system to be corrupted by political influence”.

The Attorney General could not satisfy critics who said he had lost credibility over the Justice Department’s handling of warrantless wiretaps related to the threat of terrorism and the firings of several US attorneys. As attorney general and earlier as White House counsel, Mr Gonzales pushed for expanded presidential powers, including the eavesdropping authority. He drafted controversial rules for military war tribunals and sought to limit the legal rights of detainees at Guantanamo Bay prompting lawsuits by civil libertarians who said the government was violating the Constitution in its pursuit of terrorists.

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