Gonzalez in 2006: ""You have to wonder what could Messrs. Comey and Ashcroft add to the discussion."

[BurtWorm]

By which he meant: Nothing to see there. Glenn Greenwald shows why Gonzalez was (and remains) full of shit:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/05/15/comey/index.html?source=rss


Gonzales' yearlong effort to block Comey's testimony



Back in February, 2006 -- a couple months after the New York Times first revealed that the Bush administration was spying on Americans in violation of FISA -- the Senate Judiciary Committee informed the Justice Department that it wanted to question John Ashcroft and his former Deputy, James Comey, regarding the NSA program. In particular, the Committee wanted to question the two DOJ officials about a Newsweek article reporting that both of them, in 2004, refused to certify that the NSA eavesdropping program was legal.

In response, Alberto Gonzales refused to allow Ashcroft or Comey to testify about any such matters, and in doing so, this is what he said:

In addition, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales signaled in an interview with The Washington Post yesterday that the administration will sharply limit the testimony of former attorney general John D. Ashcroft and former deputy attorney general James B. Comey, both of whom have been asked to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the program.

"Clearly, there are privilege issues that have to be considered," Gonzales said. "As a general matter, we would not be disclosing internal deliberations, internal recommendations. That's not something we'd do as a general matter, whether or not you're a current member of the administration or a former member of the administration."

"You have to wonder what could Messrs. Comey and Ashcroft add to the discussion," Gonzales added.

Similarly, Assistant Attorney General William Moschella claimed: "we do not believe that Messrs. Ashcroft and Comey would be in a position to provide any new information to the committee."

Today, Comey testified before the Committee and it became clear exactly what they could "add to the discussion," and it became equally clear why Gonzales sought to suppress their testimony:

In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning, former Deputy Attorney General James Comey detailed the desperate late night efforts by then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and White House chief of staff Andrew Card to get the Justice Department to approve a secret program -- the warrantless wiretapping program.

According to Comey's testimony this morning, only when faced with resignations by a number of Justice Department officials including Comey, his chief of staff, Ashcroft's chief of staff, Ashcroft himself and possibly Robert Mueller, the director of the FBI, did the White House agree to make changes to the program that would satisfy the requirements of the Justice Department to sign off on it. . .

The events took place in March of 2004, when the program was in need of renewal by the Justice Department. When then-Attorney General John Ashcroft fell ill and was hospitalized, Comey became the acting-Attorney General.

The deadline for the Justice Department's providing its sign-off of the program was March 11th (the program required reauthorization every 45 days). On that day, Comey, then the acting AG, informed the White House that he "would not certify the legality" of the program.

...

[Solly Mack]

1. k/r

[magellan]

2. Like the rest of BushCo

...there is no end to the final nails that can go in Gonzo's coffin.

[Rex]

3. Most important thread, kick against the JF threads!

The WH WENT AHEAD AND DID THE PROGRAM and I stress this, WITHOUT the Justice Departments approval! Um, that kinda make it ILLEGAL what they did. Of course they caved in, later, after they got what they wanted (if ya know what I mean).

Gonzo needs to be grilled by every Congress person! He is the key to all this corruption and looks like he will crack soon.

POS criminals!

[Old and In the Way]

4. The actions of desperate criminals with much to hide.

It was never national security with these guys, it's Bush personal security.

[terisan]

5. Should Gonzales be rendered to Guantanamo & tortured until he confesses, in accordance with adm

guidelines-this being wartime and requiring special handling of suspected lawbreakers or haters of our freedoms ?

[BurtWorm]

7. Maybe Romney is right.

With all the Bushists implicated, maybe Gitmo should be doubled in size...

:think:

[WillyT]

6. K & R, Baby !!!

:kick:

[Matariki]

8. 5th rec.

way more interesting than falwell.

[L. Coyote]

9. More blossoms in the White House Parse-Lie Garden

Assistant Attorney General William Moschella claimed: "we do not believe that Messrs. Ashcroft and Comey would be in a position to provide any new information to the committee."

Which position is that, seated or standing?
Does your belief system have anything to do with the facts?

If you just analyze this attorney-speak, it simply says, "I'm working around an obvious lie I cannot tell, so I'll parse a string of bull crap together for you that will make you think I answered your question the way I would if I told a direct lie that would sound a lot like what this seems to say." Damn, some parse-lies have great blooms.

Definition: A parse-lie is a political plant that blooms all year long. It is not a lie, just a florid string of crap that makes one believe something not said. It is a clever construction that makes one believe the lie it replaces. At the same time, it end runs the actual lie by parsing truth to sound like the lie it averts. Parse-lie blossoms have a slight scent of bull crap. Recently, the White House Parse-Lie Garden has been stinking horridly due to the massive amount of blooming.

Synonym: Attorney-speak.

Some of the best bloom episodes in recent times were Alberto Gonzales testifying on FISA and the USA firings.

[BurtWorm]

10. Turd blossoms have that stench

:patriot:

[BurtWorm]

11. kick

[WillyT]

12. Wow... Read This (Entire Comey\Schumer Exchange):

Link: http://www.salon.com/news/primary_sources/2007/05/15/comey_testimony/index.html

I hope this thing explodes wide open.

:bounce:

[BurtWorm]

13. I hope it gets on YouTube in the next day or so.

It sounds like classic testimony drama.

[BurtWorm]

14. kick