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Alberto Gonzales was involved in a controversy over the firings of 8 United States attorneys. Detractors insisted that the attorneys were fired for political reasons, instead of performance-based reasons (a claim that no one in the White House has ever made, though some Justice Department officials initially made this claim in Congressional testimony).<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/18/AR2007011801880.html</ref> Despite the fact that United States attorneys serve at the pleasure of the [[President of the United States]] and the firings were therefore legal, the [[Liberal bias|liberally biased]] media insists on calling it a scandal. In fact, Alberto Gonzales "tempered the White House desire to replace U.S. Attorneys wholesale." <ref>http://communities.justicetalking.org/blogs/day24/archive/2007/03/23/alberto-gonzales-raw-deal.aspx</ref>
Alberto Gonzales was involved in a controversy over the firings of 8 United States attorneys. Detractors insisted that the attorneys were fired for political reasons, instead of performance-based reasons (a claim that no one in the White House has ever made, though some Justice Department officials initially made this claim in Congressional testimony).<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/18/AR2007011801880.html</ref> Despite the fact that United States attorneys serve at the pleasure of the [[President of the United States]] and the firings were therefore legal, the [[Liberal bias|liberally biased]] media insists on calling it a scandal. In fact, Alberto Gonzales "tempered the White House desire to replace U.S. Attorneys wholesale." <ref>http://communities.justicetalking.org/blogs/day24/archive/2007/03/23/alberto-gonzales-raw-deal.aspx</ref>
Another controversy occurred while Gonzales was the [[White House Counsel]] to President [[George W. Bush]]. In March of 2004, President Bush's [[domestic surveillance program]] was nearing its expiration date and needed to be reauthorized. At the time, however, then-Attorney General [[John Ashcroft]] had been hospitalized in the [[intensive care unit]] with a serious case of [[pancreatitis]]<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,113374,00.html</ref>; his powers had been transferred to [[James Comey]], his deputy. Moreover, several individuals within the [[Justice Department]], including Comey and [[Jack Goldsmith]] (then the head of the Office of Legal Counsel), believed that the program had serious legal problems. After Comey and Goldsmith refused to reauthorize the program, [[White House]] [[Chief of Staff]] [[Andy Card]] tried to arrange a phone call between President Bush and Ashcroft to discuss the situation. Mrs. Ashcroft advised him (through a member of Ashcroft's security detail) that her husband would not accept the call. President Bush then ordered Gonzales and Card to go to the hospital to see Ashcroft in person. Both the President and Card spoke to Mrs. Ashcroft to inform her of the impending meeting and advise her that it involved a matter of [[national security]]. Comey and Goldsmith heard about the situation and rushed to the hospital to intercept Gonzales and Card. Comey and Goldsmith watched as Gonzales asked Ashcroft to sign the reauthorization. Ashcroft stated that he did not appreciate them coming to see him under such circumstances, that he had serious concerns about the program, and that in any case Comey was the attorney general at that moment<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/magazine/09rosen.html?pagewanted=7</ref>. Gonzales and Card then left<ref>http://washingtonindependent.com/50380/the-inspector-generals-report-on-warrantless-surveillance</ref>. Comey later stated, "I thought I had just witnessed an effort to take advantage of a very sick man."<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501890.html</ref>
==Trivia==
==Trivia==
* Albert Gonzales was voted the Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas in 1992.
* Albert Gonzales was voted the Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas in 1992.