Democratic senators called today for US Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales to be fired after revelations the FBI had abused its power to get people's personal information.

US Senator Charles Schumer, who led the charge, cited a report last week that the FBI had misused its power under the Patriot Act as another egregious misstep by Mr Gonzales, who as White House counsel argued that war on terror detainees should not be afforded all the protections of the Geneva Conventions.

"The Justice Department must be above politics. Attorney-General Gonzales is a nice man, but he doesn't understand he's no longer the president's lawyer," Senator Schumer said on CBS television.

Senator Shumer also noted the firings of eight federal prosecutors - allegedly for political reasons - and mass defections of lawyers from the Justice Department's Civil Rights division as evidence Mr Gonzales should go.

"From the mishandling of the US Attorney firings to the now documented abuses of the Patriot Act to wiretapping without a warrant to decimating the Civil Rights division, there has been a continuing pattern of mismanagement and disrespect for the rule of law," he said.

"For the sake of the nation, I'm asking Attorney-General Gonzales to step down."

Another leading Democratic senator, presidential contender Joseph Biden, also said he believed the attorney-general had overstayed his welcome.

"I think Gonzales has lost the confidence of the vast majority of the American people," said Senator Biden, speaking on CNN.

"I think it's an abuse of power and I think he's lost the confidence of the American people," he said. "Obviously, it's (the) President's judgment to say whether he should stay or not, but I think he's lost the confidence of the Congress," Senator Biden said.

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