Texas’ Cornyn calls on Holder to resign

Texas Sen. John Cornyn became the highestranking Republican lawmaker to call on Attorney General Eric Holder to resign, a request Holder refused Tuesday on Capitol Hill.

Cornyn said Holder’s response to the “Fast and Furious” gunrunning investigation and leaks of national security secrets from the administration prove him unfit.

“Americans deserve an attorney general who will be honest with them,” said Cornyn, who runs the GOP Senate campaign committee.

Holder told Cornyn that “there is so much factually wrong” with the allegations and that he has no intention of resigning. — David Jackson

Reporter resigns after e-mail leak

The wife of President Obama’s choice to be the next ambassador to Iraq has been forced out of her job at The Wall Street Journal after steamy e-mails between her and the ambassador-desig- nate were leaked on the Internet.

The e-mails are also threatening to upend former Iraq adviser Brett McGurk’s nomination to the Baghdad post.

In a statement, the Wall Street Journal said that Gina Chon, a former Baghdad correspondent for the newspaper, failed to notify her editor of her relationship with McGurk — then a member of the U.S. National Security Council in Iraq — after the two became involved in 2008.

— Aamer Madhani

Obama tells Bryson to focus on health

The White House said Tuesday there is no timetable for Commerce Secretary John Bryson’s return from medical leave, and California officials indicated he may not face criminal charges for two Saturday traffic accidents.

President Obama spoke with Bryson briefly Tuesday morning. It was their first conversation since the secretary was cited for a hit-and-run accident.

The Commerce Department later reported that Bryson had suffered a seizure.

“The president encouraged Secretary Bryson to focus his thoughts on his own health and on his own family,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. — The Associated Press