Ensign refuses to vote no confidence on Gonzales

Tuesday, June 12, 2007 | 6:57 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Ensign was fuming just months ago about the Justice Department's shifting story on the firing of Nevada's U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden, which was part of an unusual purge of U.S. attorneys nationwide.

As other Republican senators started calling for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' resignation, Ensign edged close to that stance, but ultimately refrained. His support for the attorney general hinged on whether the Justice Department restored Bogden's reputation, he said.

On Monday Ensign declined to join with 53 senators who wanted to hold a vote of no confidence on the attorney general, believing, as do many Republicans in Washington, that Senate action was nothing more than posturing to embarrass the Bush administration.

"This maneuver is a political stunt by the Democrats," Ensign spokesman Tory Mazzola said in a statement shortly after the vote. "At a time when the American people want to see results on important issues, such as fixing our broken immigration system or addressing high gas prices, we're voting on an issue the Democrats want for their own political purposes."

Bogden was fired more than six months ago in an unprecedented shake-up. Nine U.S. attorneys nationwide were removed in 2006. Democrats and some Republicans say the firings were for political reasons.

Gonzales' job has been on the line as congressional investigations revealed that the White House originated the plan. He has said in testimony to congressional committees that he did not know why Bogden was fired.

On Monday the Senate fell seven votes short of the 60 needed to hold a vote of no confidence on the attorney general. Seven Republicans, including the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, joined the Democrats in calling for the vote.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Gonzales must go. "Bogden was fired for doing a job exactly the way it was supposed to be done," Reid said.

Bogden's life pursuit was to be a prosecutor, and the Nevadan thought he had reached the pinnacle of his career when he was appointed U.S. attorney in 2001, Reid said.

"Oh was he mistaken," Reid said. "He's been humiliated, embarrassed, denigrated by this Justice Department."

Ensign's office had no information Monday on whether the senator, who had been trying to get Bogden a new job, had been able to do so. Bogden did not return a phone call from the Sun.