Washington — Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Thursday endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, writing in an op-ed of the “serious threat” Donald Trump poses to the rule of law.
“As the United States approaches a critical election, I can’t sit quietly as Donald Trump — perhaps the most serious threat to the rule of law in a generation — eyes a return to the White House,” Gonzales wrote in an op-ed in Politico Magazine. “For that reason, though I’m a Republican, I’ve decided to support Kamala Harris for president.”
Gonzales, who served as attorney general under George W. Bush’s administration and as White House counsel, drew on his experience to argue that Harris is the “best suited, able and committed to unite us in a manner consistent with the rule of law,” citing her appearances at the Democratic National Convention last month and on the debate stage this week.
The former attorney general, who resigned as attorney general in 2007 amid accusations that he had lied in front of Congress and a scandal over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, argued that the “character of the person we elect in November” is of particular importance because members of Congress “have proven spectacularly incapable or unwilling to check abuses of executive power.”
He noted that while the Supreme Court has the ability to check presidential power, the high court’s recent ruling in the presidential immunity case “might allow a president to take official actions for personal, self-serving reasons.”
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“Power is intoxicating and based on Trump’s rhetoric and conduct it appears unlikely that he would respect the power of the presidency in all instances; rather, he would abuse it for personal and political gain, and not on behalf of the American people,” he added.
Gonzales cited the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol as one of the “most revealing” examples of Trump’s conduct, saying the former president “failed to do his duty” that day. The former attorney general also pointed to the convictions and criminal charges Trump faces, saying they “show that Trump is someone who fails to act, time and time again, in accordance with the rule of law,” and casting doubt on whether he “has the integrity and character to responsibly wield the power of the presidency within the limits of the law.”
On Harris, Gonzalez said that Americans don’t know exactly how she will govern, saying voting for the vice president will require Americans to put their “faith in her character and judgment.” But he added that Harris “has sworn fidelity to the rule of law” in her role as a prosecutor and California attorney general — a record that he said “shows a clear commitment to pursuing justice.”
The endorsement comes as a number of prominent Republican officials have backed Harris in recent days, including former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Rep. Liz Cheney, his daughter.