Gonzales' Troubles Escalate

April 26 (EIRNS)--According to former U.S. Attorney Paul K. Charlton, Rep. Rick Renzi's (R-Ariz.) chief of staff, Brian Murray, called him before the mid-term Congressional elections about a pending indictment of Representative Renzi in a suspect land deal. Websites and news organizations had begun to report the probe of Renzi in October.

Wednesday's Wall Street Journal reported that Justice officials delayed the investigation into Renzi to help him win re-election. Charlton was one of 8 U.S. attorneys who were fired by the Justice Department after the elections. His name first appeared on a list of U.S. attorneys to be fired in a Sept. 13 memo.

According to the Washington Post, during the past week, Renzi temporarily relinquished his seats on three House committees after the FBI raided his wife's insurance business.

On Wednesday, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) wrote Gonzales to request all White House and Justice Department communications about the Renzi investigation. Today, the New York Times, in a lead editorial entitled "Another Dubious Firing," called upon the Senate, which has approved subpoenas for Karl Rove, Harriet Miers and other officials involved in the firings, to serve them.