Bush picks controversial Gonzales for Attorney General

1.00pm - By ANDREW BUNCOMBE in Washington


Alberto Gonzales, the White House counsel who notoriously advised that the Geneva Conventions and international anti-torture treaties did not apply to terrorist suspects being held by the US, was yesterday selected by President Bush as his new attorney general.

Officials said that, if confirmed by the Senate, Mr Gonzales would succeed John Ashcroft, whose resignation from the post was announced on Tuesday. Mr Gonzales, 49, would become the first Hispanic to hold the position.

Mr Gonzales was one of several possible replacements widely discussed prior to the election when it was anticipated that Mr Ashcroft would not serve a second term.

It emerged yesterday that Mr Ashcroft actually proffered his resignation to the president in a five-page hand-written letter on election night but that Mr Bush waited until after the weekend to accept it and decide upon a replacement.

If the right-wing, evangelical Mr Ashcroft was one of the most polarising members of the Bush cabinet, Mr Gonzales is not without considerable controversy.

He was at the centre of the effort to publicly defend the administration's policy of holding prisoners captured in the so-called 'war on terror' without access to lawyers or the courts - a stance that was opposed by the Supreme Court.

He also wrote a memo dating to February 2002 memo in which the Bush administration claimed the right to ignore international treaties prohibiting torture of prisoners. Campaigners said that memo led directly to the sort of abuses that were uncovered at Abu Ghraib and which have been alleged at Guantanamo Bay.

But the controversy surrounding Mr Gonzales dates back further, to the time when he worked as general counsel to Mr Bush when he was Governor of Texas.

An article published last year by Atlantic Monthly examined Mr Gonzales's role in the preparation of memos to Mr Bush on 57 death penalty cases in which the governor was required to consider the granting of clemency.

The magazine's investigation found that Mr Gonzales "repeatedly failed to apprise the governor of crucial issues in the cases at hand: ineffective counsel, conflict of interest, mitigating evidence, even actual evidence of innocence".

The magazine said Mr Gonzales appeared to exclude factors such as "mental illness or incompetence, childhood physical or sexual abuse, remorse, rehabilitation or racial discrimination in jury selection".

Mr Bush allowed the executions to proceed in all but one of the 57 cases, including that of Terry Washington, a thirty-three-year-old mentally retarded man with the communications skills of a seven-year-old.

Mr Gonzales had also been considered a possible candidate for the Supreme Court if an opening should emerge.

In recent weeks his name had been mentioned increasingly often with the announcement that Chief Justice William Rehnquist was suffering from thyroid cancer.

Reports yesterday suggested that in the end it was decided - somewhat ironically - that Mr Gonzales was not considered sufficiently conservative on certain basic issues to please right-wing Republicans looking for a zealot on the bench.

The replacement of Mr Ashcroft was first of what will likely be several reshuffles in the cabinet over the coming days and weeks. Mr Bush is already looking for a replacement for commerce secretary Donald Evans, who announced his resignation on Tuesday.

Mr Bush was yesterday due to meet with Secretary of State Colin Powell, about whose future there has been intense speculation. It was generally considered that Mr Powell would not serve in a second term but in recent days there have been a flurry of reports suggesting he might.

Senator John Kerry, the former Democratic presidential candidate, yesterday offered a statement in which he called Mr Ashcroft "one of the most divisive faces in this administration".

He said: "With the end of the era of John Ashcroft, the president now has an opportunity to heal those divisions and make good on his promise of renewed bipartisan cooperation."

Meanwhile in an early sign of the increased control held by Republicans, energy secretary Spencer Abrams said yesterday he believed the new Congress would next year vote to permit drilling for oil in the Alaskan wildlife reserve. (ANWR)

"I think that the prospects (for Congressional approval) have certainly improved and we're excited about that," said Mr Abraham, following a speech to a government advisory coal panel.

Only a simple majority of 51 Senate votes is needed to open ANWR by way of the budget bill, which cannot be filibustered. In the past, a coalition of Senate Democrats and moderate Republicans have blocked such a move.

In the aftermath of the November 2 vote, in which they increased their Senate majority to 55-45, Republicans now believe they have enough votes to push ahead with new legislation.

Republican Senator Pete Domenicic, chair of the Senate energy committee, said: "With oil hovering at US$50 a barrel, and likely to stay there for several months, the market mandates congressional action. We can develop ANWR without harming the environment or the wildlife. Now is the time to do that."

Environmentalists have said they will again oppose the drilling plan but admit their fight will be much tougher.

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