WASHINGTON—The White House Friday said no decision had been made on whether to let top political strategist Karl Rove testify to Congress in the flap over U.S. prosecutor firings that is prompting calls for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' ouster.
The Justice Department has released documents and e-mails related to the firing of eight U.S. attorneys after critics questioned whether it was politically motivated.
President Bush has expressed confidence in Gonzales and said the firings were justified. But he said the issue was not handled properly and Gonzales should go to Capitol Hill to answer questions.
Two Republican senators—John Sununu of New Hampshire and Gordon Smith of Oregon—have added their voices to Democrats calling for Gonzales to resign or be fired.
Asked if Gonzales would be fired, White House spokesman Tony Snow said: "I know of no such plan."
Democrats say they are trying to get to the bottom of what was behind the firings and want Rove to testify. Snow said the White House would leave the issue to chief lawyer Fred Fielding to decide.
The White House typically argues that officials who are not confirmed by the Senate, like Rove, do not have to appear before Congress.
"There has been no decision at this juncture about whether there will be -- whether there will or will not be such participation," Snow said.
The latest round of documents released in the matter Thursday showed the administration believed most of the nation's 93 U.S. attorneys were "loyal Bushies" and Gonzales was aware of the possible dismissals of others in late 2004 when he held Fielding's job as White House counsel.
Snow also backed away from initially pointing the finger at former White House counsel Harriet Miers as the one who first proposed firing all the federal prosecutors after Bush won re-election in late 2004.
"It has been described as her idea, but whether it is ... I don't want to try to vouch for origination," Snow said. "I don't know."
The White House said it would be logical for Miers to review personnel when she was first named to the White House counsel position.
"We know that Karl had a recollection of Harriet's having raised it, and his recollection is that he dismissed it as not a good idea," Snow said. "We don't know motivations."
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