The delay further frustrates the White House's push for Gonzales to give lawmakers his side of the story as Democrats and Republicans alike call for his resignation over the US attorney firings.
Gonzales has been forced to clarify his role in the firings after first saying, on March 13, he "was not involved in seeing any memos, was not involved in any discussions about what was going on." That statement was later contradicted by documents and testimony by Kyle Sampson, formerly the attorney general's top aide.
Sampson told Leahy's committee that Gonzales was briefed regularly about the firings and "this process of asking certain US attorneys to resign."
Gonzales says he was not involved in selecting which prosecutors to dismiss and largely relied on Sampson to handle the firings.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the delay was "disappointing."
"The attorney general has said that he would testify in hearings regarding Department of Justice appropriations, US attorneys, or other issues of interest to the Senate whenever they could be scheduled," Fratto said.
Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said it was regrettable.
Leahy, in a letter dated Wednesday and released yesterday, noted that his committee set its hearing for April 17 -- a date initially requested by Gonzales.
He asked Gonzales to produce "a full and complete account of the development of the plan to replace United States attorneys and all the specifics of your role in connection with that matter." Leahy asked for the information at least two days before the hearing, but added that "nothing prevents you from providing" it earlier.
Leahy criticized Gonzales, saying he failed to answer about 200 written questions following his January appearance before the committee. At the time, he was asked about the firings, as well as a secret court's oversight of spying on suspected terrorists and FBI leaks in corruption investigations.
