Prosecutors, agents here support his departure
U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan of Philadelphia said he likes Alberto R. Gonzales. But he also understands that the controversy surrounding the attorney general was demoralizing for many career federal prosecutors and agents, many of whom had privately complained that it had made their jobs difficult.
U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan of Philadelphia said he likes Alberto R. Gonzales. But he also understands that the controversy surrounding the attorney general was demoralizing for many career federal prosecutors and agents, many of whom had privately complained that it had made their jobs difficult.
"So it's a bittersweet moment," Meehan said of Gonzales' resignation yesterday. "Any time the mission starts to become muddled, when something, whether fairly or not, becomes a negative, it makes the environment tough."
Meehan said prosecutors "should be excited to tell people what they do for living." In recent months, he said, they had flinched when asked.
"This resignation removes that sense," he said. "They are now freed of any distractions from commentary about the attorney general."
A dozen veteran prosecutors and agents interviewed yesterday put it more bluntly than Meehan, who, like Gonzales, was appointed by President Bush. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about Gonzales.
"Everybody was more than happy today," a senior FBI agent said. "It's a disgrace what he did with the Justice Department. That guy was really bad for morale. The politicalization of everything weakened everything we did - at every level. We're going to prosecute people for lying to the FBI, and he's going to stand up before Congress and say things that are half-truths? No one's going to miss him."
"It's about time," said a career prosecutor who described himself as Republican. "He was an embarrassment."
Some agents said that Gonzales' name came up during routine interviews or discussions with defense lawyers in white-collar cases. "He left us wide open for people to question our motives," a veteran agent said.
Others said the impact was exaggerated. Said one agent: "I didn't like being represented by someone like that, but it's so high up the command chain, I don't think about it too much because we'll get some other political guy in there."
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