Mr. Comey's Tale - Tomorrow's WaPo Editorial

[WillyT]

Mr. Comey's Tale
A standoff at a hospital bedside speaks volumes about Attorney General Gonzales.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007

<snip>

JAMES B. COMEY, the straight-as-an-arrow former No. 2 official at the Justice Department, yesterday offered the Senate Judiciary Committee an account of Bush administration lawlessness so shocking it would have been unbelievable coming from a less reputable source. The episode involved a 2004 nighttime visit to the hospital room of then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft by Alberto Gonzales, then the White House counsel, and Andrew H. Card Jr., then the White House chief of staff. Only the broadest outlines of this visit were previously known: that Mr. Comey, who was acting as attorney general during Mr. Ashcroft's illness, had refused to recertify the legality of the administration's warrantless wiretapping program; that Mr. Gonzales and Mr. Card had tried to do an end-run around Mr. Comey; that Mr. Ashcroft had rebuffed them.

Mr. Comey's vivid depiction, worthy of a Hollywood script, showed the lengths to which the administration and the man who is now attorney general were willing to go to pursue the surveillance program. First, they tried to coerce a man in intensive care -- a man so sick he had transferred the reins of power to Mr. Comey -- to grant them legal approval. Having failed, they were willing to defy the conclusions of the nation's chief law enforcement officer and pursue the surveillance without Justice's authorization. Only in the face of the prospect of mass resignations -- Mr. Comey, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and most likely Mr. Ashcroft himself -- did the president back down.

<snip>

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501945.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

And if you haven't heard\read the entire exchange between Comey and Schumer, you really should!

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

Damn this is getting good!!!

:bounce:

[Missy Vixen]

1. At the risk of repeating myself

I think this is the most explosive testimony in a government hearing since Watergate.

James Comey showed this morning, under oath, that there is no length the Bushies will not go to, including breaking the law and badgering a man lying in an Intensive Care unit with a disease that kills 95% of those who contract it, to get what they want. I might also add that at the end of his testimony, those in the gallery gave him a spontaneous standing ovation.

Julie

[WillyT]

2. Oh Please, Repeat Away, LOL !!! - And I Agree With You !!!

Here's Milbank's take on this:

<snip>

In hair-raising testimony before a Senate committee yesterday, Jim Comey, the former No. 2 official at the Justice Department, described what might be called the Wednesday Night Massacre of March 10, 2004. Gonzales, then the White House counsel, and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card staged a bedside ambush of Attorney General John Ashcroft while he lay in intensive care. Comey, serving as acting attorney general during Ashcroft's incapacitation, testified about how, on a tip from Ashcroft's wife, he intercepted the pair in Ashcroft's hospital room.

"The door opened and in walked Mr. Gonzales, carrying an envelope, and Mr. Card," Comey told the spellbound senators. "They came over and stood by the bed." They wanted Ashcroft to sign off on an eavesdropping plan that Comey and others at the Justice Department had already called legally indefensible.

Ashcroft "lifted his head off the pillow and in very strong terms expressed his view of the matter" -- that Comey was right. "And as he laid back down, he said, 'But that doesn't matter, because I'm not the attorney general. There is the attorney general.' And he pointed to me."

Gonzales and Card "did not acknowledge me," Comey testified. "They turned and walked from the room."

The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee stared. The lone Republican in attendance, Arlen Specter (Pa.), looked down. The 6-foot-8 Comey, slightly hunched in the witness chair, swallowed frequently and kept his hands in his lap as he spun a narrative worthy of Dashiell Hammett.

<snip>

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501890.html

:bounce:

[Recursion]

8. Jeez I never thought I'd be cheering Ashcroft

But that's pretty damn hardcore, to say what he did in the condition he was in. I'll have to re-examine my view of him.

[eridani]

14. Myself, I apologize for those postcards of calico kittycats I sent him

http://www.andrewtobias.com/newcolumns/011127.html

[Kagemusha]

3. Glad to hear about the standing ovation

Lord knows I would've done the same had I been there in person.

Having read that Gonzales has worked to block this testimony for over an entire calendar year, it really must be awfully shocking to some people... even if I'd read of this incident long ago. But that's like B&W vs. Technicolor.

[Eurobabe]

5. I heard he applause at the end, I wish I could have seen

the testimony. Is it on the internets anywhere?

[Missy Vixen]

15. Unfortunately, the SJC took the webcast down the

minute it was over. I'm wondering if it would do any good to call Senator Schumer's office in the morning and ask that it be restored so people could watch it from their website.

Julie

[Spazito]

25. Here is a video of Comey testifying to the hospital "visit"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxHjWYA50Ds

[bleever]

4. James Comey is a hero.

Someday soon, I hope men and women of his caliber, and that of Patrick Fitzgerald, are the superintendents of the promise of American democracy, instead of the bullies, cheaters, thieves, and sociopaths who have wormed their way into power.

[Bluebear]

12. You said it, bleever. History is awaiting those who will tell the truth about this horror show. nt

[bklyncowgirl]

18. Every once in a while the Bushies run into a true patriot--and it puts a wrench into their schemes

James Comey is a hero.

John Ashcroft also appears to have been a stand up guy and deserves to be called a hero, at least in this instance.

James Comey appointed Patrick Fitzgerald, also a hero to investigate who outed Valerie Plame after Joe Wilson (yet another hero) went public with his Niger uranium story.

The problem is that the cowards and brown nosers far outnumber the heroes.

[Skink]

6. Who else thinks Leahy does a awesome Bad Cop?

:headbang:

[FourScore]

7. Excellent! n/t

[Jack Rabbit]

9. Is Fred Hiatt on vacation?

How did this one get by that loyal Bushie?

[Old and In the Way]

10. When did Ashcroft resign?

It must have been pretty soon after this event. I wonder why he isn't called in to testify? Seems like these guys were going to extremes to get their power grab done. It was an election year, too. Wonder what terrorists running for office they needed to wiretap?

[Blue_Tires]

11. some1 please find me a bush apologist willing to defend this

lol

[merh]

13. I'll pmail you a link, if you like,

to a site full of them. The site is comprised of the more rational right *cough* and lefties. The right take offense if you call them bushbots because "they admit he isn't perfect", but they have defended everything he does and as far as they are concerned, the AG/DOJ investigations are simply witch hunts for political purposes.

You could have great fun posting this and reading their spin.

It has become quite comical these days. ;)

[aquart]

16. Doesn't Bush go to bed at 9 pm? Because look here....

"And about 11 o'clock that night -- this evening had started at about 8 o'clock, when I was on my way home. At 11 o'clock that night, Mr. Olson and I went to the White House together."

Comey and Olson went to the White House at 11pm. The situation was so important that Bush was still awake and waiting for them.

You can't make this shit up.

[Bunny]

17. In this entire shocking story, that is a most interesting point.

His Majesty does NOT stay awake, or be awakened, by anything. He's proud of that, too, which is just so childish.

[bleever]

21. Great point. nt

[WillyT]

19. Morning Kick !!!

:kick:

[WillyT]

20. AND BTW... What Does It Say, That The Only Repuke In Attendance Was Specter ???

And he probably HAD to be there!

Where were all of the Republican defenders of Justice on the day Comey testified???

:shrug:

[aquart]

24. Nobody can look good attacking Comey.

Besides, they NEED people like him to prove that not all Republicans are incompetent fascist thieves.

The forward-thinking money people should be asking Comey what he wants to run for and when. Not in the 2008 bloodbath, but two to four years later, when people are starting to forget and power is going to Democratic heads. He's clean and they need to KEEP him clean.

[Z_I_Peevey]

22. kick n/t

[Poiuyt]

23. This is the most damning story I've heard in a long time

Of course, I say that every week. I don't think it can get any worse and then it does.

[Supersedeas]

26. Slowly, drip by drip the Corporate Media will be forced to tell the true story of these kooks