Gonzales: 'Constitution Is What the Supreme Court Says' -- GOPUSA

Subscribe | Mobile | RSS | Contact

Printer-Friendly Version

Gonzales: 'Constitution Is What the Supreme Court Says'
By Jeff Johnson
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
July 7, 2005

Page 2 of 2

President Bush campaigned in both 2000 and 2004 on the promise to choose nominees "in the mold of" conservative justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Both jurists are regularly identified as "strict constructionists," meaning that they do not believe justices have the power to "interpret" a new meaning to the words of the Constitution.

President Bush reaffirmed his commitment to choose such a nominee Wednesday while traveling in Denmark.

"I'll pick people who, one, can do the job, and people who are honest, people who are bright and people who will strictly interpret the Constitution and not use the bench to legislate from," Bush said.

But the president also defended his long-time friend and advisor, Gonzales.

"He's under -- he's being criticized. I don't like it when a friend gets criticized. I'm loyal to my friends," Bush said. "And all of a sudden this fellow, who is a good public servant and a really fine person, is under fire. And so, do I like it? No, I don't like it at all."

But Willkie said the criticism was not a personal attack on Gonzales as the president seemed to perceive it.

"That's erroneous. The stuff that you are reading in front of you right now is not an ad hominem attack against him," Willkie said. "It's a simple factual statement of things he's done."

Willkie stressed that he did not initiate the most recent distribution of Gonzales' two-year-old comments and that he still supports President Bush.

"Right now, I trust Mr. Bush. He has said that he will nominate people like Scalia and Thomas who interpret the actual words of the Constitution and don't make up new laws," Willkie said. "I'm confident that he'll do that, and I don't mean to be critical of the president at this point."

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that the president is "going to hone in over the next few weeks on a handful of nominees." He would not speculate about when the nomination would be announced or who, among "more than a half dozen ... individuals from all walks of life," was being considered for the post.

>> Back -- Page 1 2