Pressure Increases on Us Attorney General to Resign

The US attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, is fighting to hang onto his job as the political pressure on him to resign continues to grow.

The row adds to the sense of vulnerability surrounding Mr Bush, already struggling with the Iraq war and poor poll ratings.

Two weeks ago a jury found the former senior White House aide Lewis Libby guilty of perjury, and now an increasing number of Republican congressmen have joined the Democratic clamour for Mr Gonzales to go.

Mr Gonzales has been criticised over the firing of eight attorneys. The Democrats claim this was done on political grounds, an allegation given credibility by the release of internal White House emails.

The justice department released a further 3,000 pages of documents yesterday.

Tony Snow, the White House press spokesman issued a far from ringing endorsement of the attorney general. Asked if Mr Gonzales would continue in his post, Mr Snow said: "We hope so." He revised this later in the day to say the attorney general enjoyed the full confidence of the president.

Congress is threatening to issue subpoenas to try to get White House aides such as Karl Rove to give evidence. The White House has yet to say whether it will allow these aides to appear before Congress.

Mr Gonzales is due to give evidence on Thursday to a congressional committee on a separate matter, his department's budget.