Gonzales Helped Set the Course for Detainees (Cheney Ghostwriters)

[RamboLiberal]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1802&u=/washpost/20050105/ts_washpost/a48446_2005jan4&printer=1

<snip>

But one of the mysteries that surround Gonzales is the extent to which these new legal approaches are his own handiwork rather than the work of others, particularly Vice President Cheney's influential legal counsel, David S. Addington.

Gonzales's involvement in the crafting of the torture memo, and his work on two presidential orders on detainee policy that provoked controversy or judicial censure during Bush's first term, is expected to take center stage at Senate Judiciary Committee (news - web sites) hearings tomorrow on Gonzales's nomination to become attorney general. The outlines of Gonzales's actions are known, but new details emerged in interviews with colleagues and other officials, some of whom spoke only on the condition of anonymity because they were involved in confidential government policy deliberations.

On at least two of the most controversial policies endorsed by Gonzales, officials familiar with the events say the impetus for action came from Addington -- another reflection of Cheney's outsize influence with the president and the rest of the government. Addington, universally described as outspokenly conservative, interviewed candidates for appointment as Gonzales's deputy, spoke at Gonzales's morning meetings and, in at least one instance, drafted an early version of a legal memorandum circulated to other departments in Gonzales's name, several sources said.

Conceding that such ghostwriting might seem irregular, even though Gonzales was aware of it, one former White House official said it was simply "evidence of the closeness of the relationship" between the two men. But another official familiar with the administration's legal policymaking, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because such deliberations are supposed to be confidential, said that Gonzales often acquiesced in policymaking by others.

[fertilizeonarbusto]

1. Story isn't dying, is it?

n/t

[sandnsea]

2. The story is so much bigger

I'll just keep posting this I guess. Gonzales is easily as bad as Cheney and has been involved in shady Bush dealings for years.

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/?view=plink&id=191

[Bridget Burke]

7. Even the Houston Chronicle is against Gonzales....

And their token liberal columnist, Cragg Hines, has this to say: There are so many questions that Alberto Gonzales needs to answer, it's hard to know where to begin.

An opinion-pages colleague suggests the initial inquiry should be: "Al, what were you thinking?"

That would certainly catch the prevailing air of disbelief across a swath of the military, diplomatic and legal communities regarding Gonzales' advice, as White House counsel, to President Bush regarding status, detention and interrogation of prisoners on several fronts in the war on terrorism.

www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/outlook/2978082

[cosmicdot]

10. there's Funeralgate ... and, so much more indeed ...

it's the criminal dawn ... putting this guy at Justice is a bigger mistake than Ashcroft ... it can, and will, get worse ...

State and national rumors have been swirling for several weeks about the "Funeralgate" litigation, in which former Texas Funeral Service Commission Executive Director Eliza May sued the state for dismissing her as a whistleblower. May charged she was fired for preparing to take action against funeral home conglomerate Service Corporation International and its CEO Robert Waltrip -- and that then-Gov. George W. Bush directly intervened in the dispute on Waltrip's behalf. May, Waltrip, and several other principals have been deposed in pretrial procedures, and there were rumors that presidential aide Joe Allbaugh and counsel Alberto Gonzales were to be deposed in August, with President Bush still on the potential witness list. But a source close to the case told us at press time that Allbaugh and Gonzales have not been deposed (Gonzales is seeking to quash his deposition) and that all depositions have been temporarily suspended while settlement talks proceed. But this is not the first time such discussions have taken place, so like a coffin awaiting descent into the earth, the whole matter remains up in the air. -- Michael King

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2001-09-07/pols_naked.html

Bush's 'Blind' Justice in Texas Executions
04-Jul-03
Alberto Gonzales

Derrick Z. Jackson writes: "An article in the current issue of The Atlantic Monthly should further inform and inflame the debate over the honesty of President Bush. When Bush was governor of Texas he routinely denied last-ditch pleas for clemency on execution day by systematically hearing no evidence, seeing no evidence, and sealing himself away from any tragic possibility that any evil was done at all. The 'system' was Bush and his legal counsel from 1995 to 1997, Alberto Gonzales. In 1997, Bush appointed Gonzales as Texas secretary of state. In 1998, Bush elevated Gonzales to the Texas Supreme Court. Gonzales followed Bush to Washington to be White House counsel. Gonzales is widely speculated to be high on Bush's list of potential nominees for the Supreme Court. Gonzales would be the first Latino justice."

John Dean on White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales's Texas Execution Memos
22-Jun-03
Alberto Gonzales
"White House counsel Alberto Gonzales is said to be on President Bush's short list of potential nominees for the U.S. Supreme Court. Unlike other nominees, such as D.C. Circuit nominee Miguel Estrada, it turns out that Gonzales has left quite a paper trail - in the form of fifty-seven death-penalty memoranda he prepared for then-Texas Governor George Bush. The memos were initially confidential, meant for the Governor alone. They have not themselves been published. But they have been reviewed by writer Alan Berlow of The Atlantic Monthly, and his report on their contents is disturbing indeed. The Gonzales execution memos raise serious - and, unfortunately ugly - questions, not because of what they say, rather because of what they fail to say. They also suggest that President Bush's earlier claims about how he, in fact, handled clemency requests as Governor of Texas are less than accurate."

White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales Is The World's Biggest Enemy of the Rule of Law
22-Feb-02
Alberto Gonzales
When Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) led his impeachment jihad against Bill Clinton, his bottom line was simple: "The Rule of Law." Well, the Rule of Law under the U.S. Constitution includes treaties that are ratified by the Senate. So who advised Bush to unilaterally violate the Geneva Convention - in other words, to break U.S. Law? None other than White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales. Gonzales is also the chief architect of the administration's illegal stonewalling of the GAO. Alberto Gonzales has declared war on the Rule of Law, and he should be impeached.
(hyperlinks at the following link may be broken/purged)
http://archive.democrats.com/preview.cfm?term=Alberto%20Gonzales

Funeralgate
http://archive.democrats.com/display.cfm?id=216

[patcox2]

3. Even the supposed Bush Loyalists are dupes of cheney, its frightening.

It goes to show that Bush, for all the talk of his supposed political intelligence, is truly a moron even in politics, for it appears that he is completely controlled by Cheney, and he doesn't even know it. Here is Gonzalez, one of the most longstanding Bush butt-boys, been with him for years, owes his entire career to him, supposedly loyal to Bush. And Bush supposedly values loyalty over everything and anything. And yet this Gonzalez is completely controlled by Cheney. Thats just dumb. It really is dumb, you would have to be one big stunod to be in Gonzalez position (confidant of the president) and let someone, even the vice-president, steamroll you. And if your Bush, you have to be an ignoramus not to know your most trusted aides are being steamrolled. I get the impression Bush is so lazy, absent, "doesn't want to be bothered about things" in his so-called "maganement style" that the entire white house staff is like a medieval Court in which aides and courtiers engage in constant power struggles, while the King is oblivious and manipulated.

[Demit]

4. I think you hit it on the head. I've read that * likes the campaigning

part, not so much the job part. Like, once he's got the toy he loses interest in it. I too have been reminded more than once of an old European court, with the intrigue and the flattery of the disengaged King.

[Supersedeas]

5. an Atty Gen who will acquiesce in policymaking by others--ahh, leadership

sounds like the man Bush wants running investigations

our man indeed.

[Just Me]

6. They are all conspirators to commit war crimes.

Gonzales "acquiescence" doesn't change his status as a conspirator to violate both US and international laws.

[happynewyear]

8. war criminals rot in hell

and that applies to you Gonzales!

https://www.kintera.org/atf/cf/{808DA652-D32D-4CDD-88F4-A3D3DB7866ED}/GONZALES150HI.JPG

:kick:

[AlCzervik]

9. Who is leaking this stuff out? I'm so glad this isn't going away

tomorrow on cpsan should be very interesting.

[struggle4progress]

11. kick

[leftchick]

12. Biden does not care. He says Gonzales is already the AG....

all this nasty questioning is just formality! :(