USAG Gonzalez Calls it Quits -- United States Attorney General (USAG) Alberto R. Gonzales, whose career has been rife with controversy, today announced his resignation from the position. A White House official today said that Gonzales gave his official resignation to President Bush over the phone on Friday, but Bush refused to accept it in that manner and asked him to talk in person. So, Gonzales and his wife flew to Texas, and over lunch on Sunday Bush accepted the resignation with regret, the official said. His resignation comes two weeks to the day after Karl Rove, Bush's top advisor, announced his resignation from the administration. A replacement for Gonzales has not yet been chosen, but the position would not stay open for long, according to a White House spokesperson. Gonzales was appointed USAG in 2005.
Quoteworthy -- "The resignation of Attorney General Gonzalez really should have no bearing on the posture of our lawsuit--except for possibly amending the suit to change its caption (an absolutely technical change). The suit is brought against the institution, not the man--who, in any event, is simply named in his capacity as the 'person' standing in as the 'face' of the government. Moreover, there is no reason to believe that the policies of the Justice Department--and of the Administration, as a whole--will change substantially, if at all, regardless of whom the President nominates as the new USAG--be it Michael Chertoff, Senator Hatch (R-UT), or, even Chelsea Clinton!"
- Edward Leyden, President, Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA), on how the resignation of USAG Gonzales will affect its pending lawsuit against the U.S. government over the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, in which Gonzales is a defendant.
Gtech Sues -- Gtech will reportedly file a court injunction today in Athens against Greek lottery operator OPAP for directly awarding an IT and terminal contract to local company Intralot, according to Thomson Financial News. Sources said that Gtech claims that OPAP breached both Greek and EU law by cancelling its public tender process for IT and terminals by issuing a simple press release and without a valid basis. Furthermore, Gtech argues that from November 2006, the beginning of the tender process, OPAP was bound to evaluate all three bidders, which included Gtech, Scientific Games and Intralot.
Call it Karma -- Unibet.com cyclist Stijn Vandenbergh was crowned the first winner of the new Tour of Ireland yesterday after bested other riders in the five-day race by 20 seconds. Vandenbergh, who had never won a race, led the 600-mile event from start to finish.
Quoteworthy -- "We are going to advertise on TV but as to when and what, we are not disclosing. I think that people will start straight away. I think you will probably see a slow build-up, and then you have got big events like the rugby world cup coming up which is where you will probably see a peak in advertising."
- John Shepherd, director of corporate communications for PartyGaming, predicted that some gambling firms would start advertising on TV in the United Kingdom on Sept. 1, but refused to say when Party's publicity would launch.
Stock Watch -- The LSE was closed today as the United Kingdom "celebrated" its summer bank holiday. In Vienna, bwin was up 0.60 euros to 20.90 euros, and in Stockholm, Unibet was down SEK 1.50 to SEK 184.00.