Gonzales, Snow bid government farewell

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales left the scandal-scarred Justice Department Friday, saying he was hopeful about its mission of ferreting out crime and defending the truth.

Gonzales quit after 2 ½ years at the department amid investigations into whether he broke the law and lied to Congress. He has denied wrongdoing.

He was given a standing-room-only Justice Department farewell ceremony Friday attended by, among others, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and former White House chief of staff Andy Card.

Card's wife, the Rev. Kathleene Card, said a short prayer at the beginning of the ceremony, and former Solicitor General Theodore Olson, considered a top contender to replace Gonzales, also was in the audience.

Gonzales spoke briefly at the ceremony, his voice appearing to crack with emotion several times as he thanked his wife, Rebecca, and President Bush for their support.

"Please know that I leave today with the highest regard and the admiration for the employees of the department," Gonzales said. "And I leave having had the privilege and honor of serving as attorney general."

Bush is expected to announce a nominee next week to replace his longtime friend and fellow Texan.

It was a furor over the firings of nine U.S. attorneys that marked the beginning of the end of Gonzales' tenure as attorney general. The midterm firings, planned after the 2004 elections, prompted Democrats to question whether they were politically motivated.

Gonzales' conflicting public statements about the ousters led Democrats and Republicans alike to criticize his honesty. Their charges were compounded by his later sworn testimony about the Bush administration's terrorist surveillance program that was contradicted by FBI Director Robert Mueller and former senior Justice Department officials.

Friday was also White House spokesman Tony Snow's last day on the job.

He announced earlier he was quitting, not because his colon cancer had returned but because he and his family were strained financially under his $168,000 government salary. As a former national TV commentator, he's used to much more.

What's he going to do?

"I got cancer," Snow said during a farewell breakfast with reporters. "I want to fight cancer and spend time with my family." Snow and his wife, Jill Ellen Walker, have one son, two daughters, three dogs, a cat and three guinea pigs.