Gonzo referred to the "gang of eight" before going to see Ashcroft. Final Jeopardy - Name the Gang

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

He said there was an "emergency meeting" in the White House Situation Room involving "senior members of the administration and the BIPARTISAN leadership of the House and Senate Intel Committees, the "gang of eight".

[blogslut]

1. I cheated

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_of_Eight

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
John Boehner, Republican House Leader
Harry Reid, Democratic Senate Leader
Mitch McConnell, Republican Senate Leader
Silvestre Reyes, Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Peter Hoekstra, Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
John D. Rockefeller, IV, Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Kit Bond Ranking Member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

2. ? That says "current members" of the Gang of Eight? Are they the same members

that Gonzales is referring to at the time of the hospital visit to Ashcroft?

[rodeodance]

3. Pelosi, Daschle, Harman & Rockerfeller already said they did not approve. SEE here:

Forum Name General Discussion: Politics
Topic subject Frist, DeLay,Roberts & Porter Goss (waiting to hear from these Gang of 8 members to check on Gonzo s
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3399834#3399834
3399834, Frist, DeLay,Roberts & Porter Goss (waiting to hear from these Gang of 8 members to check on Gonzo s
Posted by rodeodance on Tue Jul-24-07 08:24 PM





Frist, DeLay,Roberts & Porter Goss (waiting to hear from these Gang of 8 members to check on Gonzo story as to why he visited the sick Asscroft



Forum Name General Discussion
Topic subject Daschle, Rockefeller, Pelosi all dispute Gonzo's testimony today
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1425864#1425864
1425864, Daschle, Rockefeller, Pelosi all dispute Gonzo's testimony today
Posted by babylonsister on Tue Jul-24-07 07:36 PM

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003770.php

Pelosi: I Objected to Spying When Comey Did
By Spencer Ackerman - July 24, 2007, 7:41 PM

Tom Daschle. Jay Rockefeller. And now Nancy Pelosi.

That makes three members of the Gang of Eight -- the bipartisan congressional leadership briefed about President Bush's warrantless surveillance -- to dispute Alberto Gonzales's testimony that the Gang demanded the surveillance continue after a March 2004 briefing telling them that acting Attorney General James Comey refused to reauthorize the program.

"She made clear her disagreement with the program continuing despite Comey's objection," Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly tells TPMmuckraker. Pelosi was part of the Gang of Eight in her capacity as House Democratic leader in 2004.

So far we're waiting to hear back from GOP members of the Gang of Eight, as well as Jane Harman, then the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee.

nse to Original message
1. I heard Jane Harman on NPR during my drive home
and she was not happy. Not happy at all.

Gonzo really threw her for a loop; she stopped just short of calling him a liar.

She said she couldn't divulge much of the briefing, as it was and still is classified, but the legality of the program never once was discussed -- they discussed "mechanics".

ue Jul-24-07 07:51 PM
Response to Original message
3. Reps: Bill Frist, Tom DeLay, Pat Roberts and Porter Goss Updated at 7:52 PM



re: "gang of 8" - includes Senate and House Majority and Minority Leaders plus ranking members of both House and Senate Intelligence Committees.

Therefore, 108th Congress (which would be inclusive of 2003-2004) the eight were:

Dems: Tom Daschle, Nancy Pelosi, Jay Rockefeller and Jane Harman

Reps: Bill Frist, Tom DeLay, Pat Roberts and Porter Goss
Posted by: OhSnap!
Date: July 24, 2007 8:18 PM


http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003770.php





http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003759.php


Gonzales: I Only Visited Ashcroft's Hospital Bed Because Congress Wanted It


By Spencer Ackerman - July 24, 2007, 11:51 AM

In May, former acting attorney general James Comey testified that then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and then-chief of staff Andrew Card rushed to the hospital room an incapacitated John Ashcroft on March 10, 2004 after Comey ruled that the president's warrantless surveillance program lacked sufficient legal authority to continue. Today, Gonzales gave two defenses of this ghoulish maneuver: first, that he and Card only went to Ashcroft because Congress wanted the program to continue; and second, that they merely intended to "inform" Ashcroft of Comey's decision -- not get a convalescent AG to overrule his designated deputy.

Gonzales weaves through this new story, which he said gave "context" for the hospital excursion -- in which FBI Director Robert Mueller told his agents not to allow Gonzales to have Comey removed from Ashcroft's room -- to several senators. First, Gonzales told Arlen Specter (R-PA) that the trip to Ashcroft's hospital followed a meeting by the so-called "Group of Eight" -- the bipartisan congressional leaders briefed into the so-called Terrorist Surveillance Program -- at the White House to convince them of the seriousness of its imminent expiration. Specter nearly blew a fuse when he understood that Gonzales was suggesting that Congress wanted Comey overturned:

Amazingly, Gonzales turned to his second line of defense: that he wasn't trying to get Ashcroft to reverse Comey "if in fact he wasn't fully competent to make that decision." How could Gonzales lean on Ashcroft at all, given that Ashcroft had delegated his authority to Comey? "There are no rules" governing the matter, Gonzales said.

Gonzales got much softer treatment from Orrin Hatch (R-UT)......................



> Forum Name Latest Breaking News
> Topic subject Daschle: Gonzales Trying to "Rewrite History" by Blaming Congress for Ashcroft Spying Crisis
> Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2928519#2928519
> 2928519, Daschle: Gonzales Trying to "Rewrite History" by Blaming Congress for Ashcroft Spying Crisis
> Posted by swag on Tue Jul-24-07 05:21 PM
>
> Source: TPM Muckraker
>
> Tom Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader who received briefings on the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance programs, says Alberto Gonzales isn't telling the truth about what Senate and House leaders were told in March 2004 about the program's utility and legality.
>
> In testimony today to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Gonzales attempted to give "context" for his infamous hospital trip to a convalescent John Ashcroft on March 10, 2004, after acting attorney general James Comey refused to authorize the surveillance program. It was only after a briefing for the so-called "Gang of Eight" bipartisan congressional leaders demanded that the program continue, Gonzales said, that he and then-White House chief of staff went to "inform" Ashcroft of the Gang's wishes.
>
> Daschle was one of that Gang of Eight. In a statement e-mailed to TPMmuckraker, he all but calls Gonzales a liar.
>
> "I have no recollection of such a meeting and believe that it didn't occur. I am quite certain that at no time did we encourage the AG or anyone else to take such actions. This appears to be another attempt to rewrite history just as they have attempted to do with the war resolution."
> Read more: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003768.php
>
>

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

6. ok, this is pretty specific stuff that can be checked.

Gonzo says there was a meeting in the White House Situation room.

Daschle says he has "no recollection " and believes it didn't occur.

Harman seems to be saying it did occur but not the way Gonzo describes

Pelosi seems to be saying that she agreed with Comey, which implies that she knew of Comey's objection - so was it in this meeting or not? If yes,then she contradicts Dashle.

And what did Jay Rockefeller say?

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

4. It would be the "gang of eight" on March 10, 2004. nt

[rodeodance]

5. yes, see note # 3

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

7. This is one of those little pebbles that just keeps bobbing up to the surface. nt