July 26 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Democrats sought a special prosecutor to investigate whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales lied to lawmakers and they subpoenaed President George W. Bush's top political aide, Karl Rove, to testify about the firing of U.S. attorneys.

Charges by four Democratic senators that Gonzales repeatedly lied under oath, plus the latest subpoena, raised the stakes in the congressional fight with Bush over his refusal to allow aides to testify about the firing of nine prosecutors last year.

The new allegations against Gonzales came two days after the attorney general appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he faced expressions of incredulity and disdain from senators in both parties about his answers to questions on Bush's surveillance of suspected terrorists.

``The attorney general took an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,'' New York Democrat Charles Schumer told reporters today. ``Instead, he tells the half-truth, the partial truth and everything but the truth. And he does it not once, and not twice, but over and over and over again.''

In a letter to the Justice Department, the senators said a special counsel should ``determine whether Attorney General Gonzales may have misled Congress or perjured himself.'' Besides Schumer, it was signed by Democrats Dianne Feinstein of California, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin.

Contradiction and Controversy

The lawmakers said Gonzales's testimony that he never talked to other colleagues about the prosecutor firings after the controversy erupted was contradicted by former aide Monica Goodling. She told Congress in May that she felt ``uncomfortable'' when Gonzales raised the subject.

The Democrats also said they found ``deeply troubling'' Gonzales's assertions in 2006 Senate testimony that ``there has not been any serious disagreement'' in the administration over the interception of suspected terrorists' international phone calls and e-mails without court warrants.

The attorney general's statement was contradicted in congressional testimony earlier this year by former Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey, who said there had been dissent at the highest levels of the Justice Department in March 2004.

The four senators asked the Justice Department to review responses Gonzales gave two days ago when questioned about Comey's testimony that Gonzales, then the White House counsel, had pressured Attorney General John Ashcroft to extend the intelligence program's legal authority in March 2004.

Comey said Gonzales went to Ashcroft's bed in a hospital where he was recovering from emergency gallbladder surgery to persuade the attorney general to reverse a decision not to extend the program.

Confirming Comey

FBI Director Robert Mueller today confirmed Comey's account, saying that there was disagreement over the National Security Agency's wiretapping of suspected terrorists.

``I had an understanding the discussion was on an NSA program'' that ``has been much discussed,'' Mueller, who was outside Ashcroft's hospital room, told the House Judiciary Committee.

The senators said they want the special prosecutor to investigate Gonzales's assertion that the disagreements by Justice Department officials dealt with another intelligence program, not the terrorism surveillance effort.

Gonzales said he talked to Ashcroft not about the surveillance program, but another matter, which had been the subject of a March 10, 2004, White House briefing for congressional leaders. That briefing preceded his hospital visit by a few hours, he said.

Democratic members of Congress who attended the 2004 meeting disputed Gonzales's version of events, saying the briefing was about the terrorism surveillance program, not something else. The Democratic senators cited written evidence as well contradicting Gonzales.

A May 17, 2006, letter to Congress by John Negroponte, then the national intelligence director, included the March 10, 2004, session with lawmakers on a list of briefings congressional leaders received about the surveillance program.

Presidential Support

White House and Justice Department officials said Gonzales stands by his testimony. ``The attorney general was speaking consistently,'' White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters today. ``The president supports him.''

Brian Roehrkasse, a Justice Department spokesman, said that ``confusion is inevitable when complicated classified activities are discussed in a public forum, where the greatest care must be used not to compromise sensitive intelligence operations.''

The disagreement within the administration ``that occurred in March 2004 concerned the legal basis for intelligence activities that have not been publicly disclosed and that remain highly classified,'' he added.

The Senate Democrats asked Solicitor General Paul Clement to name a special counsel. Clement is acting attorney general in matters in which Gonzales has recused himself, including the firing of the federal prosecutors.

``I've never seen an attorney general so contemptuous of Congress and his role as the chief law enforcement officer,'' Feinstein told reporters.

The Justice Department had no immediate comment about the senators' request. Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, the top Republican on the panel, called the request for a special prosecutor ``precipitous.''

Schumer and Specter

``Senator Schumer has made a practice of politicizing this matter,'' Specter told reporters.

The subpoenas today for Rove and J. Scott Jennings, the deputy White House political director, are part of the congressional investigation into whether the White House orchestrated the dismissals for improper political purposes such as to spur investigations of Democrats.

Bush has asserted executive privilege to bar his aides from testifying about the dismissals. A House panel also investigating the firings cited Bush's chief of staff, Joshua Bolten, and former White House counsel Harriet Miers for contempt of Congress for their refusal to cooperate.

``I would hope the White House would stop the stonewalling,'' Senator Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said in a floor speech announcing the subpoenas. ``There is a cloud over this White House and a gathering storm.''

Bush spokesman Tony Fratto said Leahy is ``more interested in headlines'' than in reaching accommodation with the White House and passing spending bills and other legislation. ``Every day this Congress gets a little more out of control,'' Fratto said.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Rowley in Washington at +1- jarowley@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 26, 2007 18:31 EDT