Gonzales’ hearing date is at issue

The White House on Sunday called on Senate Democrats to move up the appearance of Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales before the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying the longer the scandal continued over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, the more damage would be done to federal law enforcement operations around the country.

At the same time, the GOP leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, offered the attorney general only tepid support, joining a number of Republican lawmakers no longer willing to put their personal imprimatur on Gonzales’ keeping his job.

Asked directly if he had confidence in Gonzales, McConnell responded: “I can honestly say the president does.”

Pressed further on “Fox News Sunday,” he added, “I think most Republican senators are willing to give the attorney general a chance to come up before the Judiciary Committee and give his side of the story.”

Gonzales’ testimony before the Senate panel is scheduled for April 17 -- an event shaping up as his opportunity to explain why the prosecutors were fired and what involvement the White House may have had in their dismissals.

Democrats also want Gonzales to square a number of statements he has made about his own role in the terminations.

He has said that he had only minimal discussions about the firings, but Justice Department documents released in the last few weeks show that he attended an hourlong meeting before giving the go-ahead on which prosecutors to replace.

White House Counselor Dan Bartlett didn’t suggest a specific date for Gonzales’ testimony, but he told ABC’s “This Week”: “Let’s move it up and let’s get to the facts. Let’s have the attorney general there sooner rather than later.”

The Senate, in recess this week, is to reconvene April 10.

Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” agreed that earlier would be better.

“It’s very important for the country that we clear the air and get the Justice Department back functioning,” said Specter, the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee. “I believe there is a very heavy overhang there. The morale is low.”

For several months, he said, federal prosecutors around the country have been left “wondering when the next shoe is going to drop. And I think we ought to move very promptly, find out exactly what happened, find out who is responsible and take corrective action.”

But Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he would stick to April 17, which was originally Gonzales’ preferred date, though Leahy’s office “got a call yesterday saying, ‘Could we come earlier?’ ” He said he answered no.

Leahy noted that his panel as well as its House counterpart were still reviewing thousands of pages of e-mails and other documents, and that the House Judiciary Committee had just begun interviewing senior Justice Department officials.

“We’re, in effect, interrogating a number of people leading up to it,” Leahy said. “The 17th is now the time.... It’s the date the hearing will take place.”

Bartlett, the chief communications strategist at the White House, complained that Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a Judiciary Committee member who has been leading the Democrats’ investigation, should either step down from the investigation or resign his position as head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which provides funding for Democrats running for the Senate. Bartlett and other GOP leaders have complained that Schumer is using the scandal to drum up campaign contributions, sending out fundraising letters citing the investigation.

The No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, came to Schumer’s defense on ABC, saying his colleague had made a “clear distinction” between his work investigating the U.S. attorneys matter and his role with the Senate Democrats’ fundraising effort.

“Schumer has really drawn a clear line here,” Durbin said. “And I think as long as that line is held, there is no reason to question” his involvement in the investigation.

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richard.serrano@latimes.com