China Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Gonzales Knew About FBI Lawbreaking By Luke O'Brien The Gonzo-deathclock resumed ticking last night after the Electronic Frontier Foundation revealed that months before embattled U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told Congress in 2005 that "There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse" regarding the use of National Security Letters, he had been informed of several civil liberties abuses committed by the FBI using NSLs. Gonzales and other administration officials went even further, telling Congress that that no abuses of the USA Patriot Act had ever occurred. This, too, documents obtained by the EFF through FOIA prove, was untrue. (to see the full documents, go here.) Unauthorized surveillance, illegal searches, wiretapping the wrong people, collecting data the feds never asked for -- Gonzales had been told about it all. Yet in testimony designed to persuade Congress to re-authorize the Patriot Act, Gonzales described a smoothly running counter-terror machine that had exercised exquisite care not to infringe upon citizens' rights. The AG even feigned surprise when the Justice Department's inspector general this March released a damning report about widespread NSL violations at the FBI: "The laws authorizing NSLs, as well as specific rules set down by the FBI and by me, established strict policies for how they would be issued and carried out....I was upset when I learned this, as was Director Mueller. To say that I am concerned about what has been revealed in this report would be an enormous understatement. Failure to adequately protect information privacy is a failure to do our jobs. And although I believe the kinds of errors we saw here were due to questionable judgment or lack or attention, not intentional wrongdoing, I want to be very clear: there is no excuse for the mistakes that have been made, and we are going to make things right as quickly as possible. I have told the Director that I will not accept the problems identified in the report, and I will not be satisfied until procedures and policies that should have been followed are being followed, to the letter." Read the full speech here DOJ spinmeisters are already trying to smooth things over, claiming that it was unclear whether Gonzales had actually read the reports about legal violations and civil liberties abuses. All the abuses reported to Gonzales were, however, grave enough to also be submitted to an independent intelligence oversight board designed to safeguard civil liberties. A story today in the Washington Post quoted DOJ spokesman Brian Roehrkasse as saying that just because a violation is reported to the oversight board "does not mean that a USA Patriot violation exists or that an individual's civil liberties have been abused." But Caroline Fredrickson, the Director of the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office condemned Gonzales' actions today in a statement: "Congress has been hoodwinked by the Attorney General and it's time for consequences. From the US Attorney scandal to warrantless wiretapping, this administration has misled the American people time and again. We know now that Mr. Gonzales provided false testimony in order to build a case for reauthorization of the Patriot Act. It is now apparent that Congress and the public simply cannot afford to take anything this administration says about the war on terror at face value.No government should have these broad powers in the first place and it has become painfully obvious that our government cannot be trusted to police itself. This administration seems to think that the end justifies the means and when it comes to the means, it's anything goes. Without Mr. Gonzales' false testimony, the Patriot Act may not have been authorized in its current form. Now, more than ever, is the time to reopen and re-examine the Patriot Act." Congress may also decide it's time to re-examine the possibility that Gonzales shut down a DOJ probe into the administration's NSA warrantless wiretapping program because he knew it would target his actions as former White House counsel. Murray Waas of the National Journal first reported the story here Click on the link for the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chachie Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 I have never seen a more transparent criminal politician in my life. He's a back-stabbing, evil man who can't lie his way out of a paper bag. If his boss weren't such an abuser of the Constitution he'd be gone already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baculus Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Surprise, surprise, once again. Let's wait for the apologist posse to come along and declare how there is no evidence of wrong doing and nothing is wrong with Gonzales' behavior. And since he has the full support of the President, it proves that he is correct in his judgement! I'd like to see how the apologists spin this further... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 The sky is falling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EersSkins05 Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 No blowjobs here. Move along, American attention span. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Should this be merged with the WP article I posted earlier or stand alone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted July 10, 2007 Author Share Posted July 10, 2007 Should this be merged with the WP article I posted earlier or stand alone? Merged. I actually did a search before posting this, unfortunately I misspelled Gonzales in my search so I didn't come up with your thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 No problems. It's a different article and an important subject. It's amazing how many things this administraton has done wrong and so many of them it seems intentionally wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baculus Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 The sky is falling. I guess honesty in government just means nothing to you, right? "Hey, these are my guys! I'll defend them no matter what!" THEY DO NO WRONG! I could less if they are dishonest!" Disappointing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heyholetsgogrant Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Time to haul his ass back to capital hill and bring the heat. Damn 08' is gonna be a cakewalk! -Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cskin Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 He might have been made aware of possible abuses... but they were unsubstantiated and yet to be fully investigated by the time he spoke to Congress. But...hey... let the Left Witch Hunt continue.... at least it keeps them away from further swinging open the border gates and providing bag lunches for the illegals and terrorists flooding across the southern border. :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 He might have been made aware of possible abuses... but they were unsubstantiated and yet to be fully investigated by the time he spoke to Congress. But...hey... let the Left Witch Hunt continue.... at least it keeps them away from further swinging open the border gates and providing bag lunches for the illegals and terrorists flooding across the southern border. :doh: BJ's? Fair game. A corrupt yes-man lying to congress about matters concerning the nations civil rights and the rule of law? Witch hunt. You have no shame. Just face it you backed one of the worst administrations in this nations recent history. You don't have to go down with the ship. I'd take 20 Clintons before another Bush and you know what probably burns the ass of todays true believer republicans? The fact that the vast majority of America would know doubt do the same. This joke of a President that has so completely humiliated his country and angered his people was lifted up by a hero by flag pin wearing frauds seeking to capitalize on the real witch hunt they undertook... funny how Karma can be such a *****. From full control to damn near none in record time. Well done GOP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baculus Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 He might have been made aware of possible abuses... but they were unsubstantiated and yet to be fully investigated by the time he spoke to Congress. But...hey... let the Left Witch Hunt continue.... at least it keeps them away from further swinging open the border gates and providing bag lunches for the illegals and terrorists flooding across the southern border. :doh: Well, that statement means little, seeing how these same folks who are being investigated are pro "swinging open the border gates...." After all, what has A.G. Gonzales done to protect our borders? What has the current administration done? BTW, he said he was not AWARE of any abuses, so your statement is incorrect, since it is contrary to what the A.G. stated. And that is the issue: was aware of such abuses. If this is your criticism, then you are applying it to the wrong place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Well, that statement means little, seeing how these same folks who are being investigated are pro "swinging open the border gates...." After all, what has A.G. Gonzales done to protect our borders? What has the current administration done?BTW, he said he was not AWARE of any abuses, so your statement is incorrect, since it is contrary to what the A.G. stated. And that is the issue: was aware of such abuses. If this is your criticism, then you are applying it to the wrong place. How many years of GOP full control did we have? To bad the democrats took over and undid all that republican work to secure the borders.... face it at least you know what the dems stand for. The GOP promises a lot and delivers NOTHING. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Sick Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 You're doing a heckuva job Brownie - er - Gonzo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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