Washington ? Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ allies on Capitol Hill grew scarce Tuesday as he left it largely to aides to carry out President Bush’s order to straighten out the story behind the firing of eight federal prosecutors.

Senate Republicans exiting their weekly policy lunch no longer bothered to defend Gonzales’ response to lawmakers’ questions about the firings. At most, they mustered an appeal to withhold judgment until the attorney general testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 17.

That was Sen. Arlen Specter’s message during the closed-door meeting, according to three senators who were present.

“Senator Specter today said to give (Gonzales) a fair chance,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a staunch White House ally who lunched with Gonzales last week. “I think people are trying to do that. But there are some inconsistent stories (Gonzales) is going to have to explain.”

Among them: Why Gonzales said at a March 13 news conference that he “never saw documents” and “never had a discussion” about the firings. His schedule for last Nov. 27 showed he participated in an hourlong meeting and approved a detailed plan on the dismissals 10 days before they were carried out.

Gonzales has maintained he was not closely involved in the firings, and did not help select which prosecutors would be told to resign. “I believe in truth and accountability,” he said Tuesday in Chicago at a news conference that lasted less than three minutes. “Everything I’ve done in connection with this matter supports that principle.”

Still, defending Gonzales became more difficult with Monday’s refusal by his counsel, Monica Goodling, to testify before the Judiciary Committee with other Justice officials involved in the firings, as the attorney general had promised. She said statements by Democrats indicate they have already concluded wrongdoing on the part of Justice officials, including her.

Specter empathized.

“I can understand the sense of a potential witness not wanting to be ensnared in that kind of a proceeding where conclusions have already been reached,” Specter, R-Pa., said Tuesday on the Senate floor.

Goodling’s announcement, some senior Republicans felt, strengthened the Democrats’ charge that the Justice Department had something to hide.

All of which added up to scandal fatigue inside the caucus, the senators said.

Specter’s appeal to the caucus received “a lot of head shaking, a lot of eye-rolling,” said one senator who attended and spoke on condition of anonymity because the session was private.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said Gonzales has been “badly weakened” by conflicting Justice Department stories on the firings – including his own.

One of Gonzales’ fellow Texans weighed in.

“This nation deserves better than to have an attorney general who cannot be forthright with Congress and misleads the citizens he has been sworn to protect,” said Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas. “He has a credibility issue.”

Bush has said he supports Gonzales, a longtime friend from Texas.