Troubling questions regarding Comey's testimony

[Duer 157099]

1) Was Ashcroft's wife present when Gonzo and Card came in? Because, they discussed the highly classified program in front of her if so. Can she be subpoenad?

Comey was very specific in his testimony, that he sat in a chair at the head of the bed, and his wife was by his side holding his (Ashcroft's) hand, when Gonzo and Card came in. Question is whether she left or stayed?

2) How long was this prgram running in it's "not based in the law" state???? Is it only illegal if they do it while knowing it is illegal (such as when Comey/Ashcroft refused to sign off on the renewal, yet Bush had it renewed anyway. Was it running illegally for YEARS???? or just WEEKS????

In either case, it was certainly being run while illegal.

G'dammit, why aren't we impeaching these bastards yet?!?!?!?!?!??

[grasswire]

1. good question

This should be posted to TPM and dkos.

[tiptoe]

2. not impeaching because can't convict? ...time better spent investigating/exposing/'cleaning up'? nt

[pansypoo53219]

7. no

i think the media has to be on board before the democrats will be willing. doesn't matter if high crimes and fucking felonies have occurred. the teevee gnews' overlords deem georgie to be splendid.

[OHdem10]

3. I did not get the impression Mrs. Ashcroft was in the room.

at the time of the meeting. She took the call from whomever
called AG Ashcroft. She immediately called Comey. I believe
AGAshcroft would have had her leave the room and wait someplace
until they were finished.

[Duer 157099]

4. Except that Comey specifically describes her in the room

and holding Ashcrofts hand.

[Spazito]

5. According to Comey's testimony, she was in the room

he does not say she left at any time:

COMEY: I was worried about him, frankly.

And so I raced to the hospital room, entered. And Mrs. Ashcroft was standing by the hospital bed, Mr. Ashcroft was lying down in the bed, the room was darkened. And I immediately began speaking to him, trying to orient him as to time and place, and try to see if he could focus on what was happening, and it wasn’t clear to me that he could. He seemed pretty bad off.

SCHUMER: At that point it was you, Mrs. Ashcroft and the attorney general and maybe medical personnel in the room. No other Justice Department or government officials.

COMEY: Just the three of us at that point.

I tried to see if I could help him get oriented. As I said, it wasn’t clear that I had succeeded.

I went out in the hallway. Spoke to Director Mueller by phone. He was on his way. I handed the phone to the head of the security detail and Director Mueller instructed the FBI agents present not to allow me to be removed from the room under any circumstances. And I went back in the room.

I was shortly joined by the head of the Office of Legal Counsel assistant attorney general, Jack Goldsmith, and a senior staffer of mine who had worked on this matter, an associate deputy attorney general.

So the three of us Justice Department people went in the room. I sat down…

SCHUMER: Just give us the names of the two other people.

COMEY: Jack Goldsmith, who was the assistant attorney general, and Patrick Philbin, who was associate deputy attorney general.

I sat down in an armchair by the head of the attorney general’s bed. The two other Justice Department people stood behind me. And Mrs. Ashcroft stood by the bed holding her husband’s arm. And we waited.

And it was only a matter of minutes that the door opened and in walked Mr. Gonzales, carrying an envelope, and Mr. Card. They came over and stood by the bed. They greeted the attorney general very briefly. And then Mr. Gonzales began to discuss why they were there — to seek his approval for a matter, and explained what the matter was — which I will not do.

http://thinkprogress.org/comey-testimony

[Duer 157099]

8. Thanks Spazito, that was how I remembered it

Someone needs to ask Comey if she ever left the room. Or, just subpoena her and ask.

Isn't Executive priviledge voided if such a discussion happens in front of a non-secure person?

[autorank]

6. Good quesiton about discussing the issue in front of

Mrs Ashcroft.

Can you imagine what kind of guys do this sort of thing, go after a "very sick man." Even if Ashcroft had signed, it would have been a hard sell to make the signature work. He wasn't A.G. at the time.

We're getting closer by the day, it seems.

Let's keep pushing.

:hi:

[bleever]

9. Let's run these questions cross the Greatest page.

:thumbsup:

[Duer 157099]

11. Cool. How? n/t

[bleever]

16. Just need to get a fifth vote at this point,

and we can get broader input from more DUers.

:thumbsup:

[Kagemusha]

10. Spousal privilege?

Seriously.

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. But her testimony wouldn't be damaging to her spouse

[calimary]

12. Your final question there is worth repeating every time we call our reps.

CALL.

YOUR.

REPS.

It's a worthy question after what we're finding out now: "WHY aren't we IMPEACHING these people yet???????"

Please note the updated TOLL FREE Capitol Hill switchboard numbers conveniently located in my sig line below.

[Norquist Nemesis]

13. At the very least, they could ask Mrs. Ashcroft who was on that call

and how that occurred. Was Ashcroft's COS at his bedside or did she contact him, and what was it in that call that caused her to have alarm bells go off?

[librechik]

19. I read the President called her personally to tell her Gonzo was coming

she then called Comey.

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/16/bush-comey/

[lonestarnot]

14. I guess Nazis know how to avoid it.

[Spazito]

15. Time has an article out that asks the very question re

Mrs. Ashcroft being in the room and the very fact that Gonzales discussed a sensitive classified in a non-secure place may well have been illegal:

snip

In dramatic testimony Tuesday, Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he raced to the intensive care unit of George Washington University Hospital that evening to intercept Gonzales and White House chief of staff Andrew Card and prevent them from convincing Ashcroft to reauthorize the program after Justice department lawyers had concluded that it was illegal. Comey, who during Ashcroft's stay in the hospital was acting Attorney General, has told Congressional investigators that when he arrived at the room and began explaining to Ashcroft why he was there, he was intentionally "very circumspect" so as not to disclose classified information in an unsecure setting and in front of Ashcroft's wife, Janet, who was at his bedside and was apparently not authorized to know about the program.

Comey described what happened next: "The door opened and in walked Mr. Gonzales, carrying an envelope, and Mr. Card. They came over and stood by the bed. They greeted the attorney general very briefly. And then Mr. Gonzales began to discuss why they were there — to seek his approval for a matter, and explained what the matter was — which I will not do." Ashcroft bluntly rebuffed Gonzales, but Comey's unwillingness publicly to say what Gonzales said in the hospital room has raised questions about whether Gonzales may have violated executive branch rules regarding the handling of highly classified information, and possibly the law preventing intentional disclosure of national secrets.

"Executive branch rules require sensitive classified information to be discussed in specialized facilities that are designed to guard against the possibility that officials are being targeted for surveillance outside of the workplace," says Georgetown Law Professor Neal Katyal, who was National Security Advisor to the Deputy Attorney General under Bill Clinton. "The hospital room of a cabinet official is exactly the type of target ripe for surveillance by a foreign power," Katyal says. This particular information could have been highly sensitive. Says one government official familiar with the Terrorist Surveillance Program: "Since it's that program, it may involve cryptographic information," some of the most highly protected information in the intelligence community.

End of snip

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1622832,00.html

[Duer 157099]

17. Ahh, thanks for that. However, I have to dispute some of it

The excerpt you post gives the impression that Comey, when punctuating his testimony with cautious statements about not discussing classified info, those asides seemed (to me) to be directed toward the Senate committee, not historical comments.

In other words, from what I recall from listening to Comey's testimony (and it helps to actually watch the testimony rather than read the transcript, because his facial gestures and pauses really add to the context), he stated multiple times about being clear that he was not going to discuss the nature of the program (during these hearings) and so I could see how, for someone reading the transcript, it could look like such a comment was being applied to the situation in the hospital room -- which I really believe was not the case.

[Spazito]

20. I am not clear as to what you mean....

I didn't get the impression the article was inferring that the program wasn't discussed in the hospital room as opposed to Comey being cautious while testifying in an open session of the Committee. I get quite the opposite reading of the article that being the program WAS discussed in a manner and place that might well have made that very discussion illegal.

Are you saying in your post that the article is saying that Comey said, while in the hospital room, he was not going to discuss the nature of the program? If so, I don't read that at all.

[Duer 157099]

25. Yes, it does suggest that. Here, read this part::

"Comey (said) that when he arrived at the room and began explaining to Ashcroft why he was there, he was intentionally "very circumspect" so as not to disclose classified information in an unsecure setting and in front of Ashcroft's wife, Janet, who was at his bedside and was apparently not authorized to know about the program."

When Comey was inserting comments about "being circumspect", it seemed those were parenthical statements to Congress, not meant as part of the narrative about the hospital room. I could be wrong, I'd have to watch the video again, but it's my impression.

[Spazito]

26. Hmmm, thanks for this, I went back to check the partial

transcript that covers Schumer's questioning and Comey's responses and, during that portion, Comey made no mention of being intentially circumspect in the hospital room, this is what he said in response to Schumer:


COMEY: I was worried about him, frankly.

And so I raced to the hospital room, entered. And Mrs. Ashcroft was standing by the hospital bed, Mr. Ashcroft was lying down in the bed, the room was darkened. And I immediately began speaking to him, trying to orient him as to time and place, and try to see if he could focus on what was happening, and it wasn’t clear to me that he could. He seemed pretty bad off.

SCHUMER: At that point it was you, Mrs. Ashcroft and the attorney general and maybe medical personnel in the room. No other Justice Department or government officials.

COMEY: Just the three of us at that point.

I tried to see if I could help him get oriented. As I said, it wasn’t clear that I had succeeded.

I went out in the hallway. Spoke to Director Mueller by phone. He was on his way. I handed the phone to the head of the security detail and Director Mueller instructed the FBI agents present not to allow me to be removed from the room under any circumstances. And I went back in the room.

I was shortly joined by the head of the Office of Legal Counsel assistant attorney general, Jack Goldsmith, and a senior staffer of mine who had worked on this matter, an associate deputy attorney general.

So the three of us Justice Department people went in the room. I sat down…

SCHUMER: Just give us the names of the two other people.

COMEY: Jack Goldsmith, who was the assistant attorney general, and Patrick Philbin, who was associate deputy attorney general.

I sat down in an armchair by the head of the attorney general’s bed. The two other Justice Department people stood behind me. And Mrs. Ashcroft stood by the bed holding her husband’s arm
And we waited.

End of snip

Seeing as the only transcript I am aware of is only a partial one, Comey may well have testified regarding being circumspect in the room in response to another Senator's question but, unless there is a full transcript out there, the only way to be sure would be to watch his whole testimony again.

[Duer 157099]

27. Whole testimony? Is that available anywhere?

I have watched the 20 minute version, where Schumer is questioning.

Also, can you point me to the link where the transcript is? There's a portion of the video that I have not yet seen in transcript form, and I think it's important, and will transcribe it myself if it's not been done yet (but also don't want to waste the time if it's already out there somewhere).

Thanks

edit to add: nevermind, found the section I was interested in. Check this out:

And Attorney General Ashcroft then stunned me. He lifted his head off the pillow and in very strong terms expressed his view of the matter, rich in both substance and fact, which stunned me — drawn from the hour-long meeting we’d had a week earlier — and in very strong terms expressed himself, and then laid his head back down on the pillow, seemed spent, and said to them, But that doesn’t matter, because I’m not the attorney general…and he pointed to me, and I was just to his left.

So... it doesn't even matter whether Comey was circumspect in the hospital room, presumably in front of Mrs. Ashcroft, because *Ashcroft himself* laid it all bare anyway! Note the part about how "rich in both substance and fact" what Ashcroft said was, and that it was "drawn from the (HIGHLY CLASSIFIED) hour-long meeting we'd had a week earlier" -- There's no question whatsoever that classified info was discussed in that hospital room, none whatsoever in my mind.

[Spazito]

28. I just found a full transcript at the WP site

Here is the link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501032.html

I could find nothing in the testimony where Comey references being cautious in discussing the program in the hospital room from the scan I did. I may have missed it but, if not, Time certainly does have the wrong context in it's reference to Comey being cautious as the only mention of caution in discussing the program was in relation to his testimony in the open session of the Committee.

[ThomWV]

21. There Was One Chilling Word In His Testimony: "Reauthorization"

They were not authorizing the 'program' they were "reauthorizing" it. So, one has to ask, who approved it in the first place when it was illegal but would not approve it in the second place and why?

The time line I come up with from Comey's testimony tells me that the program, whatever it was, at least never expired. As I heard Comey describe the situation Bush signed the reauthorization on the 11th (or thereabouts) which was the day of its expiration. Of course even that, the idea that this "program" was somehow more legal because it was periodically reauthorized is pure and simple hogwash.

[BurtWorm]

24. It had received several short-term authorizations while DOJ was reviewing the legality.

It was due to be permanently ruled on on March 11, 2004.

[BurtWorm]

22. 2) Possibly up to two years, I've heard. Probably since just after 9/11/01.

I've heard that the DOJ kept signing off on it temporarily, like for 30 to 90 days at a time, while they reviewed the legality of it. March 11, 2004 was the deadline for signing off on it permanently, which is why the Bushists showed enough desperation to try to get a sick man who had no authority at the moment to overrule the acting AG, who did have authority. They were clearly hoping, as Comey stated, to take advantage of Ashcroft's diminished mental state, not knowing he had enough awareness to know what they were up to.

[deutsey]

23. Thom Hartmann just pointed out that no networks are reporting this

except for NBC.