WASHINGTON (AP) – Republican presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York and the former top Federal prosecutor in Manhattan, said Thursday that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should get “the benefit of the doubt” in the uproar over the firings of federal prosecutors.

“The president has addressed it,” said Mr. Giuliani. “The attorney general’s an honorable man. He’s a decent man. He should be given a chance to explain and everybody should sort of give him the benefit of the doubt and allow him to explain.”

Republicans and Democrats alike have questioned Mr. Gonzales’ leadership and some have called for him to resign as Congress investigates whether the firings of eight prosecutors over the past year were politically motivated.

President Bush insists that the firings were appropriate and is standing by the country’s top law enforcement official. Democrats argue the prosecutors were forced out for political reasons.

“We should try to remove on both sides as much of the partisanship as possible,” said Mr. Giuliani, who before becoming mayor was a prosecutor waging campaigns against organized crime and corruption. He also spent two years as the Justice Department’s No. 3 official, overseeing all Federal prosecutors, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the federal Marshals Service.

Mr. Giuliani wouldn’t say whether he thought anyone involved in the firings acted improperly. “That’s what these inquires are going to be about, right, to determine that,” he told reporters after accepting the endorsement of former Robert Ehrlich, the former Governor of Maryland.

The ex-mayor leads in national popularity polls for the GOP nomination over top rivals Senator McCain of Arizona and Mitt Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts, Neither have called for Mr. Gonzales’ resignation.

Mr. Giuliani made his first remarks on the firings early in the day after a speech to the National Newspaper Association. There, he briefly recognized the freedom of the press and “its central role in securing the freedoms that we often take for granted.” He also mentioned the importance of freedom of speech even though during his mayoral tenure he was criticized for limiting access to the steps of City Hall where protesters routinely gathered.

On another matter, Mr. Giuliani suggested that he was likely to make his client list from his lucrative business interests public only if the disclosure is required by federal law.

“Those are all things that have to get decided when you do the financial disclosure form and you see what that requires,” he said. “We’ll see what the financial disclosure form requires.”

Over the past week, Mr. Giuliani has faced questions about his law firm’s relationship with Citgo Petroleum Corp., which is ultimately controlled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Bracewell & Giuliani of Houston has represented Citgo before the Texas legislature. The firm has had a contract with Citgo since before Mr. Giuliani joined it, and Mr. Giuliani’s campaign said he does no lobbying for Citgo.