Escalating questions about whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales lied to Congress make it all the more necessary for the House Judiciary Committee to launch immediate impeachment proceedings against Gonzales.

Congress is pursuing disparate steps to learn the truth about the events surrounding the dismissal of nine US attorneys, as well as clear up conflicting testimony that Gonzales has given on a number of issues. There are calls for subpoenas, a special prosecutor and criminal contempt citations.

“The best thing that Congress can do to learn the full truth is launch impeachment proceedings,” said Common Cause Bob Edgar. “Our founding fathers were clear that impeachment is the tool to reach and remove a questionable officer sheltered by the president, even against the will of the president.”

“Given the stonewalling by the White House over the Attorney General’s conduct, as well as escalating evidence that Gonzales misled Congress, impeachment appears the best vehicle for exposing the truth,” Edgar said.

Impeachment would also allow the public to learn whether Gonzales was a pawn in a White House game, or whether he led efforts to fire prosecutors who refused to succumb to political pressure.

En junio, Common Cause pidió por primera vez al Congreso que destituyera a Gonzales por demostrar un desprecio temerario por las obligaciones de su cargo al subvertir el interés público utilizando al Departamento de Justicia para promover preocupaciones políticas partidistas.