| Will Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resign this week? |
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| Written by Stu Norman | |||||||
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Sunday, 20 May 2007
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 Arlen Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee from Pennsylvania predicted Attorney General Alberto Gonzales could step down before the Senate decides on performing a "no confidence" vote on his performance this week. Online sportsbook Bodog.com has already closed out their betting odds which had Gonzales at -180 that he would not be in office on the Fourth of July 2007."You already have six Republicans calling for his resignation," Specter said. "I have a sense ... that before the vote is taken, that Attorney General Gonzales may step down." Democrats in the Senate have scheduled a rare "no confidence" vote in hopes of pressuring him to leave. So far, Gonzales has refused to resign under mounting pressure surrounding his involvement in the firings of the U.S. attorneys scandal. Democrats believe that the firings were politically motivated. President George W. Bush has solidly backed Gonzales, just like Bush did with Paul Wolfowitz before he resigned as the President of the World Bank amid scandal. James Comey, a highly regarded former deputy attorney general, testified that Gonzales reauthorized the National Security Agency's secret wiretap program. Comey stated in March 2004, when then Attorney General John Ashcroft lay deathly ill in a hospital bed, Gonzales and former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card went to the hospital to persuade the ailing Ashcroft to sign off on the program. Comey, serving as the acting Attorney General, had previously refused to sign a presidential order reauthorizing the wiretapping program because he questioned its legality. While Ashcroft backed up Comey, President George W. Bush continued the program without any certification. Democrats, including Senator Charles Schumer of New York, have stated they will back Comey for attorney general if Gonzales resigns. Last month, a desperate Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona tried to get a commitment from Alberto Gonzales on enforcing UIGEA during the Attorney General’s Senate testimony about the firing scandal. Gonzales stated there were "operational issues" with turning over the information and that his team was ""trying to work through this...to figure out if we even can do this". Point-Spreads.com believes that any transition of power at the Attorney General's office will benefit pro-internet gambling advocates that are pushing to repeal the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The deadline for enforcement mechanisms to be in place required the Treasury Department to work with the Justice Department in crafting the language by June 2007.                        |
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 20 May 2007 ) | |||||||