Gonzales Apparently Lied to Congress over Wiretapping

[kpete]

Gonzales Is Challenged on Wiretaps
Feingold Says Attorney General Misled Senators in Hearings

By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 31, 2006; A07

Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) charged yesterday that Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales misled the Senate during his confirmation hearing a year ago when he appeared to try to avoid answering a question about whether the president could authorize warrantless wiretapping of U.S. citizens.

In a letter to the attorney general yesterday, Feingold demanded to know why Gonzales dismissed the senator's question about warrantless eavesdropping as a "hypothetical situation" during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in January 2005. At the hearing, Feingold asked Gonzales where the president's authority ends and whether Gonzales believed the president could, for example, act in contravention of existing criminal laws and spy on U.S. citizens without a warrant.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/30/AR2006013001318_pf.html

[Sven77]

1. Gonzales is

much like Hans Frank, Hitlers Lawyer. Bush is above the law, Bush is the law.

[annabanana]

2. Gonzales is the "work around" king..

That's his job, It's ALWAYS been his job..in Texas or Washington..
He's on retainer to the Bush Family and his job is to figure out how to "legally justify" whatever the BFEE wants to do. He is a corporate lawyer. That is their expertise and their reason for being.

[kpete]

7. and with Alito

The coup is complete

[kpete]

3. more

Gonzales Apparently Lied to Congress over Wiretapping
Submitted by davidswanson on Tue, 2006-01-31 06:34. Media
By Matthew Cardinale, Editor, Atlanta Progressive News (January 30, 2006)
http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/pages/28/index.htm

(APN) US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appears to have lied about the President’s approval of illegal domestic wiretapping, a letter from US Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) to Mr. Gonzales suggests.

In Gonzales’s confirmation hearings several months ago, Gonzales advised Feingold, "It is not the policy or the agenda of this President to authorize actions that would be in circumvention of our criminal statutes," according to the letter, released to Atlanta Progressive News today. The conversation was in response to a direct line of questioning of Gonzales by Feingold over Gonzales's views on the ability of the President to approve illegal wiretapping, and more broadly, disregard Congressional laws either actively or through lack of enforcement.

Recently, however, it has come to light that the President has indeed, to quote Mr. Gonzales, "had the policy and the agenda of authorizing actions that would be in circumvention of our criminal statutes."

But there’s more. Gonzales also specifically promised Feingold and the US Senate, to notify Congress if the President makes such a decision "as soon as I reasonably can, yes, Sir."

Gonzales has said recently that he knew about the wiretapping, has attempted to justify it, and that he and the President knew of the likely opposition of Congress to Bush’s policy of domestic wiretapping. The policy had been initially proposed in a draft of legislation which was scrapped as soon as it was leaked to an interest group. Also, Gonzales and President Bush conferred on possibly approaching Congress for the authority to conduct erstwhile illegal wiretapping, and decided it would be unwise to seek such authority from Congress.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/7291

[Supersedeas]

8. a man who will say anything to get confirmed?

[kpete]

4. more from the WaPo Article

Gonzales said that it was impossible to answer such a hypothetical question but that it was "not the policy or the agenda of this president" to authorize actions that conflict with existing law. He added that he would hope to alert Congress if the president ever chose to authorize warrantless surveillance, according to a transcript of the hearing.

In fact, the president did secretly authorize the National Security Agency to begin warrantless monitoring of calls and e-mails between the United States and other nations soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The program, publicly revealed in media reports last month, was unknown to Feingold and his staff at the time Feingold questioned Gonzales, according to a staff member. Feingold's aides developed the 2005 questions based on privacy advocates' concerns about broad interpretations of executive power.

.....................

"It now appears that the Attorney General was not being straight with the Judiciary Committee and he has some explaining to do," Feingold said in a statement yesterday.

..........

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/30/AR2006013001318_pf.html

[Skidmore]

5. Well, he is our head lieyer.

[zbdent]

6. Gee, and Manthrax Coulter thinks the whole "liberal" movement

dies on the fact that Alger Hiss got caught "lying to Congress" . . .

[kpete]

9. Transcript ot Feingold/Gonzales

Media Finally Reports That Gonzales Misled Congress
This morning, prompted by a letter from Sen. Russ Feingold, the Washington Post reports that Alberto Gonzales misled the Senate Judiciary Committee during his January 2005 confirmation hearing:

Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) charged yesterday that Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales misled the Senate during his confirmation hearing a year ago when he appeared to try to avoid answering a question about whether the president could authorize warrantless wiretapping of U.S. citizens.

Think Progress reported this story on December 18. Gonzales said “it is not the policy or the agenda of this president to authorize actions that would be in contravention of our criminal statutes.” In fact, he personally approved Bush’s warrantless domestic spying program, in contravention of a criminal statute.

We have the full transcript of the Feingold/Gonzales exchange posted. http://thinkprogress.org/2005/12/18/gonzales-january/

In addition to Gonzales, former NSA director Michael Hayden and President Bush also made false statements relating to warrantless domestic surveillance.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/01/31/gonzales-misled-congress/

[leftchick]

10. The Untouchables

so what are they going to do to Albert? Anything? I didn't think so.

[kpete]

11. This story gives me hope - Simple, to the point

HE LIED TO CONGRESS
Was He Under Oath?

[druidity33]

14. yes, but...

Was it classified information? What trumps what? The oath or classified? Weaasly worm will wriggle right out of this...
grrr...

[greiner3]

12. We should sic the DOJ on him;

:sarcasm:

[Doctor_J]

13. He did - too bad we can't do anything about it

Condi lied to Congress at the 9/11 hearings too, but, sadly, * and the rest of the GOP now enforce the laws as they see fit, so none of them will ever be held to account for these or any other crimes.

[progressoid]

15. Not apparently....Evidently. That's EVIDENCE!