Many people questioned the fate of deposed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales after he resigned from office amid a deluge of scandals. For some, his resignation was a sufficient closure to what has been one of the most controversial periods the Department of Justice has ever seen. However, others felt that a simple resignation should not be an easy ticket out of allegations of perjury, illegal firings of U.S. attorneys, and intentionally misleading Congressional investigators.

To the delight of these people, it is being reported that Gonzales may not get off so easily.

The Justice Department's inspector general acknowledged Thursday he was examining whether departing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales made false or misleading statements to Congress about the National Security Agency's (NSA) terrorist surveillance program, the fired U.S. attorneys affair and other subjects.

On Aug. 16, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy sent a letter to Inspector General Glenn Fine, who is leading the investigation of Gonzales, asking Fine to investigate five points of contention. Fine responded that the department already had ongoing internal investigations of some of Gonzales' statements.

The disclosure by Inspector General Glenn Fine in a letter to Congress signals an expansion of the department's internal investigations into Gonzales' troubled tenure, probes that were not previously known to be focused so sharply on the attorney general and his testimony.

The Justice Department has declined to comment.

Gonzales' resignation is to take effect Sept. 17: the day the Constitution was signed in 1787. His resignation on Constitution Day should celebrate the departure of a man who spent two and a half years as Attorney General trying to destroy it.