Democrats refuse to advance date of Gonzales testimony on US Attorney firings News
Democrats refuse to advance date of Gonzales testimony on US Attorney firings

[JURIST] US Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website] Sunday rejected attempts by the Bush administration to move up the date that US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [official profile; JURIST news archive] is scheduled to testify regarding his role in the firings of eight US Attorneys [JURIST news archive]. White House counselor Dan Bartlett [official profile] urged the US Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] to push up Gonzales' testimony from April 17 to next week, but committee chairman Leahy said Gonzales himself chose the mid-April date after declining earlier offered dates, so the schedule would not be changed now.

Meanwhile, comments made by Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) [official website] regarding Gonzales' inconsistent explanations of his involvement [JURIST report] in the firings did not resound with confidence in the attorney general. McConnell did not express his own backing of Gonzales, but said President Bush has confidence in Gonzales "at the moment." AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Mayflower Compact signed

On November 11, 1620, 41 Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact, creating a civil government for Plymouth Colony.

Armistice signed, ending WWI

On November 11, 1918 at 11:00 AM, the Allied Powers signed an armistice with Germany, ending World War I. Armistice Day is marked every year in Europe on the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" with two minutes of silence.

Indictments announced in Lockerbie bombing

On November 11, 1991, prosecutors from the United States and the United Kingdom announced their indictments in the bombing of a passenger airplane over Lockerbie, Scotland. A Scottish court convicted Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, allegedly a former Libyan intelligence official, of the 270 murders in 2001. Read documents from the Lockerbie bombing trial.