Senate GOP Looks to Block No-Confidence Vote on Gonzales

ALBERTO GONZALES, U.S. Attorney General: I never saw documents. We never had a discussion about where things stood.

KWAME HOLMAN: The attorney general's conflicting answers on his role in the firings have further angered members of both parties.

ALBERTO GONZALES: I don't remember where that conversation took place.

KWAME HOLMAN: And his inability to recall details of department discussions about the firings at an April hearing was criticized almost universally by members. But his most prominent defender during this time has been longtime friend President Bush, who again reiterated his support for Gonzales while traveling in Bulgaria today.

GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States: They can try to have their votes of no-confidence, but it's not going to determine -- make the determination who serves in my government.

SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), Utah: My Democratic colleagues have to admit that they have no smoking gun. They cannot prove the allegations that they continue to repeat. There are plenty of innuendos, caricatures and characterization, but repeating talking-point sound bites and cliches is no substitute for evidence.

KWAME HOLMAN: Many Senate Democrats in turn argued Gonzales is to blame for more than just the attorney firings. They assailed him for running the traditionally independent Justice Department like an extended political arm of the White House.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), New York: Rule of law in the Gonzales regime, sadly, has apparently been an afterthought rather than a bedrock principle.

ALBERTO GONZALES: Obviously, it's been a distraction and -- but I've got to remain disciplined and focused on what I think is important for the American people.

KWAME HOLMAN: Gonzales called his final 18 months in office a "sprint to the finish line."