US President George Bush finally lost his battle to hold on to his attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, yesterday after months of unremitting congressional pressure over a series of scandals that included the firing of nine state prosecutors, wiretapping and torture, writes Ewen MacAskillin Washington.
Mr Bush blamed the Democrats, accusing them of dragging a decent and talented man through the mud for political reasons. His loss of yet another high-profile colleague demonstrated how weak he has become at the tail-end of his presidency.
Mr Gonzales formally announced his resignation yesterday after informing Mr Bush by phone on Friday at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Mr Gonzales flew to Crawford to discuss it with him over lunch on Sunday. Mr Bush accepted his offer, effective from September 17th.
The US president, though he has removed one of the biggest sores in his relations with Congress, now faces the prospect of awkward and long drawn-out confirmation hearings over a successor.
One of Mr Bush's closest friends, Mr Gonzales has been the main target of Democratic congressmen since the resignation of the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, in November. Fatally for his chances of hanging on, Gonzales lost the support of many Republican congressmen, who saw him as damaging the party.
His departure leaves the vice-president, Dick Cheney, as the only original member of the team that entered the White House with Mr Bush in 2001. It comes only a fortnight after the resignation of Karl Rove, Mr Bush's chief strategist and, like Mr Gonzales, a member of the "Texas mafia" that had been in the president's team since he was governor of the state in the 1990s.
The first Hispanic to reach such a high office in the US, Mr Gonzales made a short resignation statement at the justice department and declined to answer reporters' questions. He gave no explanation for his resignation and instead stuck to comments about what a privilege heading the justice department had been and he thanked those employed there for their service.
Mr Gonzales (52), the son of immigrants, added: "I often remind our fellow citizens that we live in the greatest country in the world and that I have lived the American dream. Even my worst days as attorney general have been better than my father's best days."
In a statement, Mr Bush, who only three weeks ago said he would stand by Mr Gonzales, described him as "a man of integrity, decency and principle". He said: "After months of unfair treatment that has created a harmful distraction at the justice department, Judge Gonzales decided to submit his resignation and I accepted his decision. It's sad that we live in a time when a talented and honourable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeded from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons."