Alberto Gonzales Quotations

I will be the first to admit I am not perfect and I make mistakes.

But the Congress has made the determination that certain kinds of information can be protected even though the American people may want to have access to information.

We respect the role of the Senate. We respect the authority of the Senate to look at the qualifications of Judge Roberts, and at the end of the day I'm optimistic that if given a fair hearing and a fair opportunity, that he will be confirmed.

There are, for example, exemptions in FOIA in which the government can withhold certain kinds of information, and the courts have recognized that there is certain documentation that do deserve protection, that certain privileges do apply and do deserve protection.

I want to be clear. No company is too big to be prosecuted. We have zero tolerance for corporate fraud, but we also recognize the importance of avoiding collateral consequences whenever possible.

I'll leave it to others to try to determine whether or not that was unfair or not. I'm not the nominee.

I think what we ought to be focusing on is that we are on path for the release of 75,000 pages of documents in connection with John Roberts' work in the White House, as in the counselor's office and as his time working as an assistant in the office of the attorney general.

Jim, I'm not aware of any formal requests from the Senate Judiciary Committee for these kinds of documents.

In this job, you're going to make decisions. You'll say things that some people are going to love them, some people are going to hate them. It's just part of the job.

Well, there is an attorney-client privilege here that needs to be respected, and it's a privilege that has been found to be worthy of protection by our courts.

I have fully cooperated with the investigation and before the grand jury, and I'm quite confident at the end of the day that we'll know what facts are in this particular case.

I feel very confident that that information should be sufficient for the members of the Senate to make an informed decision about John Roberts' qualifications.

I respect very much the role of the media in our society; I think they can be very, very helpful. They serve as a very useful check, sort of a watchdog over the actions of the government, and I respect that.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the people in London and in Egypt. We're very concerned about it. We are providing our expertise to aid in the investigation in London.

This is a very highly charged investigation. People are very interested in this, and we've got a prosecutor, a very well respected prosecutor who's been looking at this issue, this investigation for a long time.

We're talking about the lawyers for the United States of America. And I think it's very, very important that the lawyers be comfortable being very candid and open about their views on very sensitive issues affecting the United States.

Well, first of all, let me say that - let me remind your viewers that I am recused from this investigation, and what I said this weekend is not anything new.

We believe very strongly in this case. ... I'll have to sit down with our team of litigators and hear from them as to what is the appropriate next step,

To preserve the integrity of our free market economy, individuals who defraud American businesses and consumers by participating in international price-fixing conspiracies will be prosecuted and sent to prison no matter where they live or where they commit the crime.

Security is a concern, ... It is a priority . . . We will do everything that we can do to ensure law and order in the affected areas.

Security is a concern, ... It is a priority.

Obviously we would have preferred the escape not to have occurred,

I disagree we waited too long to focus on this issue,

I don't think it's appropriate for him to answer

Had these four defendants succeeded in their alleged plots, their attacks would have taken an untold number of Americans,

He has said some of the right things, so I think people are more hopeful than they have any real reason to be, ... But it's all speculation and it's all impossible to know for sure.

We take each individual, each case, case by case,

Here are the young people. This is our future. This is a decision they made upon themselves. You got to give it to them. They're trying to make a strong statement.

Some in this country mistakenly believed it could not happen here, ... Today we have chilling evidence that it is possible.

Judge Roberts ... will seek to assure the American people that he will be fair and open-minded, that he understands what his role is as a judge in our system of government: not to legislate, not to execute laws but to apply the law.

Justice must serve offenders and victims as well as the economy and the general public,

We're...looking very closely at the issue of fraudulent charities. We're looking at price gouging. I've asked the lawyers in the Department to be as aggressive and to be as creative within the bounds of the law to ensure that people do not take advantage of the situation in this tragic circumstance,

America is my home I believe in her promise and I will do what I can to secure that promise for future generations of our children. America is great not because of our military might or our economic strength but because of the greatness of Americans, and I welcome the opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder, side by side with all of you to preserve our heritage rich in "liberty and justice for all.

(Asked by John King about the political climate that existed in Washington at the time, and criticism of the Department of Justice under his management) Listen I don't expect an apology from men like Chuck Schumer, and I would put him and other individuals who were attacking me at the top of the list contributing to the low, low public perception of Congress, the integrity of Congress quite frankly.

We want to determine whether he understands the inherent limits that make an unelected Judiciary inferior to Congress or the President in making policy judgments. That, for example, a judge will never be in the best position to know what is in the national security interests of our country.

In my judgement, this new paradigm renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions.

The nature of the new war places a high premium on other factors, such as the ability to quickly obtain information from captured terrorists and their sponsors in order to avoid further atrocities against American civilians.

At the end of the day, you realize that this is important stuff, but it isn't as important as how my kids feel about me. That's how I'm going to measure my success - not how I did as counsel to the president or as attorney general. How did I do as a dad?

There is no express grant of habeas in the Constitution. There's a prohibition against taking it away.

Access to information and freedom of access to it may seem like a fundamental right but there are many people who think, rightly or wrongly, it is for your own good that it is hidden.

I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror.

I have lived the American dream. Even my worst days as attorney general have been better than my father's best days.

We have been dealing with this issue for years,

There has been significant litigation with respect to Mr. Padilla, and he has had access to counsel, ... He has had access to counsel.

We have to be successful in this endeavor because we -- if we're not successful it makes our job, in terms of evacuation and providing relief, even more dangerous and more difficult,

the president's critical authority to detain enemy combatants who take up arms on behalf of al Qaeda.

we are bringing this prosecution at this time because it is the appropriate thing to do.

As the court noted today, the authority to detain enemy combatants like Jose Padilla plays an important role in protecting American citizens from the very kind of savage attack that took place almost four years ago to the day,

These provisions of the USA Patriot Act are essential to our efforts in the war on terrorism, and their loss will damage our ability to prevent terrorist attacks. Our nation cannot afford to let these important counter-terrorism tools lapse.

The short answer is we didn't think we needed to.

This may be the most important thing a president does.

They report up to the attorney general, who - we all report up to the President of the United States. All of us work in the executive branch.

I want to be clear. No company is too big to be prosecuted, ... We have zero tolerance for corporate fraud, but we also recognize the importance of avoiding collateral consequences whenever possible.

As you might imagine, he's got many friends that he'll see as he travels . . . and they'll suggest that this person be nominated to the federal bench.

The message we want to send is that if you engage in fraud, if you participate in providing false statements, you're going to be prosecuted. We want to be very, very clear: there is no company that is too big or too important an industry that will escape prosecution if they in fact engage in wrongdoing.

I'm looking forward to some strong competition at the state tournament.

I'm primarily worried about what does the president think,

I'm focused on doing a very important job for this president and for the American people, and that's to serve as attorney general.

Clearly, there are privilege issues that have to be considered. As a general matter, we would not be disclosing internal deliberations, internal recommendations.

I certainly respect and understand the need for the American people to understand what their government is doing. And, obviously, we respect that and we try to make information available to the American people, but we also have a corresponding duty to ensure that national security is protected.

I don't believe in names. I just want to go out and play my best tennis and he'll play his and we'll see what happens. We'll see who plays the best.

These included violent offenders, drug dealers and gang members. This is an important step in ensuring a culture where the law is respected, where the judicial process is observed. Sentences are meaningful, and hard time is served.

The Department of Justice is committed to using every available resource to ensure that our streets and neighborhoods are safe and that the methamphetamine problem is brought to an end,