WASHINGTON -- House members quizzed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on the firings of U.S. attorneys during a hearing Thursday that at times deteriorated into bickering between Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

Gonzales, in his third appearance before Congress on the issue, repeated many of the statements he gave during an April 19 hearing before the Senate Judiciary committee. The embattled attorney general said he had no new information on the shake-up and still stands behind the dismissals.

“My feelings and recollections about this matter have not changed,” Gonzales told the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

But some committee members, citing lingering concerns about the firings, pressed Gonzales for answers to new questions about the resignations last year  of two other U.S. attorneys in Missouri and California.

"The department's most precious asset – its reputation for integrity and independence – has been called into question," said Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich, the panel’s chairman. "Until we get to the bottom of how this list was created, and why, those doubts will persist."

The questioning focused on Gonzales’ involvement in the ousters of U.S. attorneys who were asked to step down late last year allegedly to make room for new appointees, more loyal to the Bush White House. Both Democrats and Republicans questioned whether Gonzales should remain on the job.

Members also grilled Gonzales on topics as far a field as intellectual property rights and immigration, with representatives occasionally jabbing at members of the rival party.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., probed Gonzales on a Justice Department bribery investigation of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., insisting that inaction on that case raised more questions about the agency's effectiveness than the handling of the U.S. attorneys.

“The people’s confidence in your department has been further eroded, separate and apart from the U.S. attorney controversy because of the delay in dealing with this matter,” Sensenbrenner said.

Democrats also took the opportunity to ask about an investigation into Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., and his relationship with lobbyists. Several Republicans objected, saying the questions were designed to besmirch the reputation of Lewis, who has not been named as the target of an investigation by the Justice Department.