Legal Defense Fund Set Up for Gonzales

A friend of Alberto Gonzales has set up a legal defense fund to cover the former attorney general’s legal expenses in a probe related to congressional testimony about the Justice Department.

David Leitch, who is general counsel of Ford Motor Co., asked for donations to the fund in an e-mail solicitation last month, the Washington Post reports. Leitch formerly worked as deputy counsel and deputy assistant to President Bush.

Gonzales has hired George Terwilliger III of White & Case to represent him. The probe considers whether Gonzales committed perjury in congressional testimony and sought to influence the testimony of a former aide. Terwilliger is working for reduced fees, but legal expenses are mounting nonetheless, the solicitation says.

"In the hyper-politicized atmosphere that has descended on Washington, an innocent man cannot simply trust that the truth will out," Leitch wrote. "He must engage highly competent legal counsel to represent him. That costs money, money that Al Gonzales doesn't have."