Whoa! Get this: Alberto Gonzales hires defense attorney

[cali]

(and just look who he hired)

By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 15 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has hired a high-powered Washington lawyer to represent him in investigations of mismanagement of the Justice Department.

George Terwilliger, a white-collar crime defense attorney and the second-ranking Justice official in the early 1990s, was on the White House's short list last month to replace Gonzales.

Investigators are look into allegations that Gonzales lied to lawmakers and illegally allowed politics to influence hiring and firing at the department.

Terwilliger said Gonzales, a close friend of the president's and a former Texas Supreme Court justice, maintains he did nothing wrong or illegal, and that hiring an attorney should not signal any guilt.

"It would really be unfair to individuals who are smart enough to get themselves a lawyer to draw some inference that they need a lawyer because they did something wrong," Terwilliger said in an Associated Press interview.

<snip>

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071010/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/gonzales_attorney

[MadMaddie]

1. Well if he followed the Law why would he need a lawyer?

This bastard will eventually be tried for his crimes against humanity and against the Constitution!

[malaise]

2. Lawyer up Gonzo

you fugging criminal.

[cali]

3. It's evidently in response to the IG's investigation.

We may have a lot to thank for Glenn Fine for.

[malaise]

14. Don't forget Waxman, Conyers

Turley, Shuster, Rachel and KO

[cali]

16. Well, as long as you're making a list

you should add Leahy. It was chiefly his work that got Gonzo to retire, and he's the one that got Fine to start an investigation.

[malaise]

18. How did I forget that man?

K & R

[Horse with no Name]

4. Quite funny he hires a high powered attorney to represent him

When he hired christian college flunkies to represent US.

[havocmom]

17. Keen observation, Horse

:thumbsup:

[AuntPatsy]

21. valid point

[KansDem]

22. LOL!!!

An astute observation! Wished I'd say that! :thumbsup:

I don't know anything about this lawyer, but I'd wager his curriculum vitæ doesn't include "Regents University."

[malaise]

24. Great point n/t

[AuntPatsy]

5. Now that is ineresting and pretty telling that he is attempting to hide and evade or both.

[merh]

6. oh my, that means he is feeling the heat of the investigation

:)

[cali]

8. I think they know at least part of what Fein's investigation

has dug up, and I think Gonzo is scared shitless.

[merh]

12. "Fein's" investigation?

I missed that, do you have a link?

I know of prosecutions for political reasons in Missouri, Alabama and Mississippi, but I don't recall Fein.

thanks in advance

[cali]

13. Sorry, I meant Glenn Fine, the IG at DoJ. Brain fart.

Here's the letter Leahy sent asking him to investigate. And it turns out that his investigation goes beyond what Leahy asked him to do. By the way, Fine is a Clinton apointee, not a bush apointee:

WASHINGTON (Thursday, August 16) – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Thursday asked the Justice Department’s Inspector General to investigate potentially false or misleading testimony given by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales during his appearances before various congressional committees.

In a letter to Department of Justice Inspector General Glenn A. Fine, Leahy lists several apparently contradictory and disputed statements the Attorney General has made to congressional committees – about warrantless wiretapping, the use of National Security Letters, and the mass firing of U.S. Attorneys -- and asks for an inquiry of whether the Attorney General engaged in any misconduct or violated any duties of his office.

“I have given the Attorney General an opportunity to clarify and revise his testimony, but he has not meaningfully addressed our significant concerns,” said Leahy, who gave the Attorney General an opportunity to correct contradictory statements made during a July 24 hearing before the Judiciary Committee.

Below is the text of the letter sent to the Office of the Inspector General. It is also available as a PDF.

August 16, 2007

Honorable Glenn A. Fine
Inspector General
The Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001

Dear Inspector General Fine:

I am writing to ask that you investigate and evaluate potential misleading, evasive, or dishonest testimony by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 24, 2007, and in previous hearings before this and other congressional Committees. I have identified numerous instances in which the Attorney General appears to have contradicted his own previous testimony or the statements or testimony of other senior officials, or where he appears to have engaged in efforts to mislead. I have given him an opportunity to clarify and revise his testimony, but he has not meaningfully addressed our significant concerns.

I ask that you review the Attorney General’s testimony and compare it with other testimony and evidence to determine whether his testimony was in any instances intentionally false, misleading, or inappropriate. Consistent with your jurisdiction, please do not limit your inquiry to whether or not the Attorney General has committed any criminal violations. Rather, I ask that you look into whether the Attorney General, in the course of his testimony, engaged in any misconduct, engaged in conduct inappropriate for a cabinet officer and the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, or violated any duty – including the duty set out in federal regulations for government officials to avoid any conduct which gives the appearance of a violation of law or of ethical standard, regardless of whether there is an actual violation of law.

Potential misleading statements that you may wish to examine include, but are not limited to the following instances:

<snip>

http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200708/081607.html

[malaise]

15. I'll thank the other Fein as well

:D

I don't remember seeing that Fine letter.

[cali]

20. Yeah, I'll go with that. n/t

[Bitwit1234]

7. It the democrats were smart for once they would wait til after bush leaves office

before the indict and arrest this piece of crap. Then no pardon, and no commute. And wouldn't it be nice if they found E-V-I-D-E-N-C-E again bush and cheney after they left office. No pardon no commute.

[AuntPatsy]

9. As much as I hate the longer they remain free for their crimes I do find your post has merit.

[cali]

11. It's really not up to the dems.

If Fine's investigation turns up criminal wrongdoing, then it will be turned over to the U.S. Attorney for D.C., Jeffrey Taylor- formerly in Gonzo's employ, who would, I believe, bring it before a grand jury. At least that's how I think it would work.

[Mike03]

10. There ya go

I love the smell of fear in the evening.

This is very very interesting, indeed.

Kick and Rec.

[Lint Head]

19. Al-Bird-Oh is an attorney. I guess he also knows he is a fool.

:dem:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

38. no, he only plays one on TeeVee. He's no fool, just

dishonest, dissembling, disgusting and totally without scruples. He played a role of not knowing. He did it well, and he knows just how much trouble he is in.

[Robbien]

23. Wonder how they are going to pay for Terwilliger's services

Now that Gonzo is no longer fastened to the taxpayer teat, one wonders how he plans on paying the enormous fees Terwilliger demands.

[cali]

25. Why in the twinkling of an eye, there'll be the Gonzales Defense

fund. C'mon, now. You didn't really think this is gonna be an out of pocket expense for Gonzo?

[Robbien]

26. Sad but true. And one of Bush's taxpayer funded faith based charities

will probably be the way the cash is funneled into that Gonzo Defense fund.

Geeze what was I thinking.

[Disturbed]

27. Did Gonzo obstruct justice when he tried to influence the

ditz Goodling that testified?

[cali]

28. I think it goes beyond that.

Fine's investigation is evidently both broad and deep, and covers issues that could implicate bush.

[MiniMe]

29. Hope the guy he hired is a better lawyer than he is!

[cali]

30. Sadly, he's a very good lawyer indeed. n/t

[UTUSN]

31. Flip, Gonzo --------comeON, you know you wanna!!1 FLIP, FLIP on Shrub!!1 n/t

[cali]

32. Yes!

That's the tantalizing possibility here.

[The Backlash Cometh]

40. I'll even hold his hand while he's testifying.

[tabasco]

33. But if he just tells the truth he won't need lawyers!

That's what republikkks say!

[lonestarnot]

34. K & R Headline!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

35. he appears to be in deeeeeeeeeeeeep trouble

[cali]

36. The deeper the better. What I want to know is when does

Fine finish his investigtion, and will we see it.

[cali]

37. kick

[The Backlash Cometh]

39. White collar crime specialist.

It says volumes. These people know where the money is, and where regulation is lacking.