President George W. Bush plans to personally wade into the controversy over fired federal prosecutors today, returning to the White House to deliver a statement of confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the president is also looking to make the argument that he is showing great cooperation with Congress.

But has offered up some of his closest advisers to talk about the firings of several U.S. attorneys whom one has dubbed “the USA Eight.”

The president’s statement in the Diplomatic Room of the White House, when he returns from a day-trip, is planned for 5:45 pm EDT.

The White House has offered to let Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and former counsel Harriet Miers be interviewed by members of Congress about the firing of eight federal prosecutors - but only behind closed doors, with no transcripts and not under oath.

To that, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) responded:

“It is a unique offer with a lot of pitfalls [that Democrats] want to evaluate.”

Schumer said White House Counsel Fred Fielding “indicated he did not want to negotiate,” but that Democrats are going to push back anyway. A copy of Fielding’s letter to Democrats is here.

According to USA Today, Schumer has been leading Senate Democrats’ efforts to investigate the controversial Justice Department moves.

The threat of subpoenas over the prosecutor firings isn’t the only political fire that the White House is attempting to dampen on Capitol Hill.

With Democratic leaders calling for Gonzales’ resignation, Bush telephoned his attorney general, also a friend from Texas, shortly after dawn today with “a very strong vote of confidence.”

We’ll see how far that gets the A.G., or whether he soon joins Scooter Libby on the list of disgraced Bush Administration cronies fall guys.