More than 48,000 petitions calling for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign or be removed from office were delivered to Capitol Hill today. Collected by People For the American Way, the petitions were delivered to the office of Senator Charles Schumer of New York, who is one of the lead sponsors of a resolution expressing a lack of confidence in the Attorney General.

“Americans have made it abundantly clear that they want an Attorney General who is loyal to the rule of law—not just loyal to George W. Bush,” said Tanya Clay House, PFAW Director of Public Policy, who delivered the petitions. “Alberto Gonzales has damaged the credibility of the Department of Justice as a fair and objective law enforcement organization.”

“Alberto Gonzales is incapable of leading the Justice Department, he has misled the American public and he puts politics ahead of the rule of law,” said Senator Schumer. “Virtually everyone in America, with the exception of the President, has lost confidence in Gonzales and as these petitions reflect, Americans are voicing their view loud and clear.”

The text of the petition is as follows:

I urge you to call for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign or be removed from office.

Alberto Gonzales puts the President above the people. He has shown a deeper fidelity to the political interests of President Bush than to the public interest and the rule of law. It is in the nation’s best interest for the Attorney General to resign, and if he fails to do so, President Bush should remove him from office.

The new Congress has shown a markedly stronger commitment to exercising its oversight responsibility than have previous ones. You can demonstrate that commitment by calling for the departure of Attorney General Gonzales, who has failed to live up to his oath of office and act as the people’s lawyer, not the President’s.