Bush upset over flawed attorney firings

By MERRILL HARTSON, Associated Press Writer
4 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Wednesday he is troubled by the Justice Department's misleading explanations to Congress of why it fired eight U.S. attorneys and expected his attorney general to fix them.

Bush said he stood by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales amid calls for his ouster.

"Mistakes were made. And I'm frankly not happy about them," Bush told reporters at a news conference in Mexico, where he is wrapping up a weeklong trip to Latin America.

"Any time anybody goes up to Capitol Hill, they've got to make sure they fully understand the facts and how they characterize the issue to members of Congres," Bush said. "And the fact that both Republicans and Democrats feel like that there was not straightforward communication troubles me and it troubles the attorney general. So he took action, and he needs to continue to take action."

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WASHINGTON, March 14 — President Bush defended Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales today amid the furor over the firing of federal prosecutors, but he said he was troubled over the clumsy handling of the dismissals.

“I do have confidence in Attorney General Al Gonzales,” Mr. Bush said of his old friend from Texas. But he said the dismissals had been bungled, “and frankly I’m not happy about it.”

Mr. Bush said that he was confident that political factors were not behind the dismissals, that United States attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president and so can be let go at any time, and that poor communication with Congress was behind the uproar.

But the president’s anger was clear. “This issue was mishandled to the point that you’re asking me about it now in Mexico,” Mr. Bush said. The president, who said he had spoken to Mr. Gonzales this morning, is to arrive later this afternoon in Washington, where lawmakers of both parties continued to criticize Mr. Gonzales.

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