Word: specter
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...members of Congress angered by Alberto Gonzales' recent appearances on Capitol Hill, few seemed to take it as personally as Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter. Though he has so far refused to call on Gonzales to resign over his role in the firings of nine U.S. Attorneys and his testimony concerning the Administration's wiretapping programs, Specter has rarely hidden his frustration with Gonzales. Just this week, after Gonzales sent Specter and committee chairman Patrick Leahy a letter trying to defend himself against accusations that he had committed perjury in his testimony before the committee, Specter blasted him for deliberately "misleading...
...With comments like that, Specter, 77, may sometimes sound more like a Democrat than a loyal Republican. The ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee likes to call himself "an independent." Yet, even though he frequently takes controversial stances that put him at odds with his own party and President Bush, Specter treads carefully...
...Perhaps the most indicative example of his nuanced approach is that while Specter is routinely critical of Gonzales - even disparaging him to reporters aboard Air Force One last week - he refuses to ask Gonzales to resign. "I'm just not going to call on Gonzales to resign and I'm not going to call on the President to fire him," Specter said in an interview with TIME. "Those are their decisions. I don't want them telling me what to do about what I do and what I say, and I'm not going to do it to them...
...Specter continued in a matter-of-fact fashion: "Are you worried about a criminal contempt citation...
...Specter has threatened the possibility of holding a Senate contempt "trial" if the White House continues to block Congressional attempts at obtaining documents and testimony over the attorneys, whom critics say lost their jobs for purely political reasons...