Senator
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

RE: Ask the hard questions of Alberto Gonzalez

Dear Senator ,

I urge you to vote "No" on the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales for U.S. Attorney General unless he is able to satisfactorily answer a number of urgent and vital questions.

As White House Counsel, Mr. Gonzales was the legal architect of a number of policies intended to bolster executive privilege and secrecy, increase the power of the presidency, and rationalize torture and the exemption from international treaties such as the Geneva Conventions. And as a member of the Texas Supreme Court Mr. Gonzales demonstrated that he is all too willing to participate in investigations and decisions in which reasonable people could suspect a conflict of interest.

In order to assure the American public that he is above reproach, Mr. Gonzales should address the following:

1. Do you think there are circumstances in which torture is legal?
   Mr. Gonzales is the author of the infamous document which attempted to provide legal coverage to the White House decision to exempt Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners from protections under the Geneva Conventions. The decision to ignore the rule of war in Afghanistan, and Mr. Gonzales's legal arguments to support that decision, spiraled out of control and eventually led to the prison abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib.
2. Would you recuse yourself from the Valerie Plame investigation?
   Mr. Gonzales appeared before the federal grand jury investigating which senior administration official violated federal law in telling columnist Robert Novak that Valerie Plame was a CIA operative. His involvement in this matter as White House Counsel makes it highly inappropriate for him to oversee the investigation.
4. Would you recuse yourself from all Enron-related matters?
   Mr. Gonzales worked for the law firm that represented Enron for more than a decade. He also received thousands of dollars in contributions from Enron when he ran for reelection to the Texas Supreme Court. Yet he did not recuse himself from Enron-related investigations as White House counsel.
5. Would you recuse yourself from all Halliburton-related matters?
   There are three Justice Department investigations of Halliburton ranging from overcharging the government to bribing Nigerian officials. Halliburton was represented by a law firm in which Mr. Gonzales was a partner. As a member of the Texas Supreme Court he accepted a $3,000 campaign contribution from Halliburton just before the court heard a case involving the company. Mr. Gonzales did not recuse himself in that case.
6. Why didn't you give Governor Bush all the facts about Death Penalty cases?
   As chief legal counsel for Governor Bush in Texas, Mr. Gonzales was responsible for writing a memo on the facts of each death penalty case. The governor made life and death decisions based on these memos. An analysis of these memos concludes: "Gonzales repeatedly failed to apprise the governor of crucial issues in the cases at hand." These issues included ineffective counsel, conflict of interest and actual evidence of innocence.

I will closely follow your action on this crucial selection that is so vital to the health and future of our democracy.