The Unraveling Of A United States Attorney General

It is troubling when the highest ranking law enforcement officer in America refuses to provide truthful and complete answers. Alberto Gonzales performed a pitiful Texas two-step before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. Clouds of frustration rolled in as words took on icy forms. It looked like a Texas hail storm. Via his circular testimony, Gonzales met himself coming and going. The hearing began to look like Swiss cheese. He tunneled his way under, over, and around queries. When boxed in, the cat stole his tongue.

Attorney General Gonzales heads an agency the size of the city of Killeen. Unable to get a straight answer, Senators have now called for a perjury investigation.

At a previous hearing Gonzales denied knowing about the FBI violating the Patriot Act. Shortly afterward though it came to light that he had possessed written reports about it when testified.

A murky area surrounds Gonzales' earlier testimony there hadn't been serious disharmony within the Justice Department about the Terrorist Surveillance Program. TSP is the Bush program that allows for domestic evesdropping without prior court approval. However a couple of months later, Gonzales gave a press release that confirmed former Deputy Attorney General Jim Comey had dissented. Confronted, Gonzales urged that he had misspoken in his press release.

The next sticky item related to a meeting with now former Attorney General Ashcroft. Gonzales testified there had been an emergency meeting at the White House with leaders of congress. The hope had been to obtain legislation because Comey, then acting Attorney General, had refused to extend the TSP.

After that meeting, Gonzales went to visit Ashcroft who was in the hospital intensive care unit to urge him to override Comey's decision. At that time Gonzales was White House counsel.

Gonzales was asked, "Did anyone tell you to go [to the hospital]?" He dodged, "I'll just say that the Chief of Staff for the President of the United States and the Counsel for the President of the United States went to the hospital on behalf of the President of the United States."

Senator Arlen Spector didn't accept the rambling response. "Did the President ask you to go?" Gonzales replied, "I went on behalf of the President." Spector continued, "Why can't you answer that question? Did you talk to the President about it beforehand?" Gonzales responded, "Senator, obviously there were a lot of discussions that happened during that period of time."

Undaunting and moving forward Spector asked, "Did the Vice-President send you?" Gonzales gave his famliar answer, "Sir, we were there on behalf of the President."

Spector tried again to nail it down, "Did you talk to the Vice-President beforehand?" The Attorney General wouldn't budge. "We were there on behalf of the President," he said.

"Why can't you answer the question?" a frustrated Spector demanded to which Gonzales replied he would be happy to try to respond by letter.

Gonzales shied away from interchanging the terminology TSP and "other intelligence activities." In his responses, he split hairs. He admitted the meetings related to "other intelligence activities," but refused to admit or deny they related to the TSP.

However, there are accountings of those meetings from other people. Former Director of Intelligence Negroponte was forthcoming about discussion of the TSP. Additionally, current F.B.I. Director Robert S. Mueller has testified to the House Judiciary Committee the hospital meeting had indeed been about TSP.

Moving into another topic, one Senator noted that Judge Advocate Generals for all military branches had unanimously agreed that interrogation techniques which violate the Geneva Convention include: waterboarding, forced nudity, painful stress positions, threatening with dogs, and mock execution. Gonzales refused to take a position so Senator Dick Durbin focused him, "Would it be legal for a foreign government to subject a United States citizen to any of the five interrogation techniques?" In essence, our Attorney General refused to say that it is illegal for a foreign government to subject a United States citizen to those techniques in spite that is what the Geneva Convention holds.

Lastly, a surprise topic was introduced. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse asked, "What on earth business does the office of the Vice-President have in the internal workings in the Department of Justice with respect to criminal investigations, civil investigations, and on-going matters?" Although nearly at a loss for words, Gonzales replied, "As a general matter, Sir, that's a good question. I'd have to go back and look at this [memorandum of authorization]."

That brings this thought to mind. Who is running the Justice Department?

© Coninc., TheDownsideUp.Com 2007