“I could never have predicted that Donald Trump would be elected President of the United States,” former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said on Wednesday.
Gonzales, who served in the George W. Bush Administration, characterized Trump’s presidency as “different,” during a visit to Lubbock to promote his new book, titled “True Faith and Allegiance: A Story of Service and Sacrifice in War and Peace.” Gonzales spent time with veterans and Gold Star families Wednesday morning, and spoke at an event hosted by the Lubbock Women’s Club in the evening, among other engagements.
“Every President’s going to have their own style,” Gonzales told EverythingLubbock.com. “Obviously it’s worked for him before, in his business, and hopefully it’ll work for him as President because he is the only President we have. I think it’s very important for him to be successful, and for our country to be successful.”
On the topic of Bill O’Reilly’s departure from Fox News Channel after two decades amid allegations of sexual harassment, Gonzales offered his legal perspective, as the former “Top Cop” of the nation.
“You approach these issues at various levels, there’s the legal level, okay what is our legal liability as an organization, as a network, when someone engages in this kind of conduct,” Gonzales said. “Again, I don’t know what the facts are here. As far as we know they’re allegations and nothing has been proven as of yet.”
“Based on what I know, the company made a judgment, the time had come,” Gonzales stated. “There was just too much there. Now, it remains to be seen what happens to him personally, whether it be litigation against him. Of course I suspect there will be litigation against the company.”
Gonzales, who taught political science at Texas Tech following his resignation from office, said he enjoyed returning to West Texas, as a proud Texan himself.
“Had the opportunity to say hello to some old friends and so it’s nice (being back),” he said. “This was a very special time for Becky and myself, and our family, in terms of leaving Washington and coming here. It was a nice place to sort of re-energize ourselves. It’s quieter pace here, and it was just a thing we needed I think and it came at the right time for us.”
Discussing his book, Gonzales said his inspiration came from “very incredible experiences… that make great stories and I thought should be told.”
“I think [readers] can expect to learn a lot about the inner workings of our government, and also the decisions about those controversial issues during the Bush Administration, how they came to pass,” he mentioned.
“I don’t shy away from anything controversial,” he said. “I talk about Guantanamo Bay, I talk about enhancing interrogation techniques, I talk about electronic surveillance. I talk about all the things deemed controversial in certain quarters.”
“My goal was simply to explain how decisions were made and people can judge for themselves whether or not we made the right call. I happen to believe that we did,” he added.
Gonzales was scheduled to travel to California on Thursday for additional events.
