Senators to Bush: No pardons over attorney firings
By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press
Sep 29, 2008 12:37 PM CDT
In this Aug. 27, 2007 file photo, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announces his resignation during at a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington. A report on a Justice Department investigation into the controversial firings of U.S. attorneys is harshly critical of the politically charged...   (Associated Press)

Senators are praising Attorney General Michael Mukasey's appointment of a special counsel to investigate the firings of nine U.S. prosecutors, and they're warning President Bush against pardoning anyone who is found to have broken the law.

Any such pardon, said Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, would be seen by the nation as an admission of wrongdoing.

The top Republican on the panel, Arlen Specter, noted that there's no indication of that happening. But if it does, he said, he'll be quick to push back.

Mukasey appointed a special counsel Monday after an internal Justice probe found the firings to have been improper.

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