FEINGOLD/KENNEDY-Letter To Gonzales-DID YOU LIE UNDER OATH ABOUT NSA WIRETAPPING?

[kpete]

Senators Write Gonzales: Did You Lie Under Oath About NSA Wiretapping Program?

Today, U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), and Richard Durbin (D-IL) sent Attorney General Alberto Gonzales regarding the testimony of former Deputy Attorney General James Comey given yesterday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In the letter obtained by ThinkProgress, the senators ask Gonzales if he stands by his 2006 testimony that Comey and other Department of Justice officials did not have concerns about the NSA wiretapping program, which would be in contradiction to Comey’s testimony yesterday. As ThinkProgress reported this morning, Gonzales denied there was any “serious disagreement about the program.” The senators write:

You testified last year before both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Judiciary Committee about this incident. On February 6, 2006, at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, you were asked whether Mr. Comey and others at the Justice Department had raised concerns about the NSA wiretapping program. You stated in response that the disagreement that occurred was not related to the wiretapping program confirmed by the President in December 2005, which was the topic of the hearing. …

We ask for your prompt response to the following question: In light of Mr. Comey’s testimony yesterday, do you stand by your 2006 Senate and House testimony, or do you wish to revise it

LETTER: http://websrvr80il.audiovideoweb.com/il80web20037/ThinkProgress/2007/document.pdf

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/16/senators-gonzales-nsa/

[blogslut]

1. K&R

Did Gonzo lie? Does a bear shit in the woods?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

2. Keep The Pressure On!

[aquart]

4. Especially since he's decided it's clear sailing from here on.

[EFerrari]

3. Go get that bastard! K&R

[seemslikeadream]

5. Comments

OK, WHICH DOMESTIC SPYING operation were you specifically asking about, I can’t remember them all??


:rofl:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. proud to be the fifth.

now about that beer in the woods. . .
Abu Gonzales is not stupid. To the contrary, he is cagey, he is an accomplished liar, and he plays dumb as a specific, planned and well thought out defense to illegal activity. All that crap you heard about his preparation and their unhappiness? we wuz set up. AGAIN. by the bush MSM spin doctoring and stenography.

[seemslikeadream]

7. What about this comment at Think Progress?

Comey virtually gave it away — IT’S A SECRET FBI SPYING PROGRAM, NOT AN NSA PROGRAM!!!!!!!!

[Spazito]

8. Fascinating letter....

Nowhere in the letter is there a question of which program was the issue at the time of the hospital "visit" which tells me either they have incontrovertible evidence that, contrary to Gonzales' testimony, it WAS the NSA wiretapping program or, given Comey's testimony that the program he was concerned about was not legal, force Gonzales to identify the illegal program that WAS under discussion.

Gonzales, meet the rock and the hard place.

[hootinholler]

9. WTF is this REVISE shit!?!?!

You don't get to go back a year and revise your fucking congressional testimony. You lied or you didn't. There's a fucking transcript fer christsakes. He lied to Congress. It's a felony. Charge him.

-Hoot

[TahitiNut]

13. "Dear Bank Robber: Would you like to return the money??"

:eyes:

[jazzjunkysue]

10. This is how you corner and indict someone. You have to prove to a judge

that you gave the accused every opportunity to repair damage, or clear their name. A judge and jury will demand that the accused was not steam-rolled by the system. It must be very clear that Gonzalez will stand by his remarks, so there is no misunderstanding him.

He has to make one final response and own it.

They gave Libby and Martha these chances, too.

This is the beginning of the impeachment because Gonzalez will either have to rot in jail or tell the prosecutor where the bodies are buried: In Crawford.

This is it, people. The real way it goes down. This is how you out a sitting president.

[TahitiNut]

11. Abu Gonzo's reply: "I don't recall."

:shrug:

[Nikki Stone1]

12. Yup!

:kick:

[KoKo]

14. WOW! This is BREAKING NEWS! and VERY GOOD TO HEAR!!! n't

[in_cog_ni_to]

15. They're giving him a chance to revise his answer? WTF are they doing? HE BROKE THE LAW! He LIED

to Congress...which is a FELONY and THIS IS THE AG of the United Staes of America!

I get the feeling WE are being played with here.:( They want us to think they're trying to get to the bottom of all the corruption, but they keep giving these THUGS...ONE MORE CHANCE! One more chance to give us the emails. One more chance to tell us the truth about the NSA program. One more chance to testify. It's almost like they don't want to do anything about this. WHY? What the heck is going on?

[TahitiNut]

16. DoJ Reply (for real): Abu Gonzo "will not retract a sworn statement" made in 2006

No Dissent on Spying, Says Justice Dept.

By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 17, 2007; Page A06

The Justice Department said yesterday that it will not retract a sworn statement in 2006 by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales that the Terrorist Surveillance Program had aroused no controversy inside the Bush administration, despite congressional testimony Tuesday that senior departmental officials nearly resigned in 2004 to protest such a program.

The department's affirmation of Gonzales's remarks raised fresh questions about the nature of the classified dispute, which former U.S. officials say led then-Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey and as many as eight colleagues to discuss resigning.

During his appearance before a congressional committee Tuesday, Comey declined to describe the program. He said it "was renewed on a regular basis," and required the attorney general's signature.

He said a review by the Justice's Office of Legal Counsel in spring 2004 had concluded the program was not legal.

<more>

[usregimechange]

17. He wasn't under oath that day, GOP committee wouldn't swear him

[Californian Dreamer]

22. Lying to congress is a felony

Sworn in or not. Whether anything will actually come of it is another matter... here's hoping they go for the throat with this.

[newyawker99]

24. Hi Californian Dreamer!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[deacon]

18. It's obvious he did n/t

[malaise]

19. K & R

Sweet!

[Swamp Rat]

20. k&r

[Jeffersons Ghost]

21. what's "NSA?"

aww never mind... I'll just ask my gf

hehehe... I wish

[BelgianMadCow]

23. Random Randi Rooting Reply

:-)

and secret kick to this good news.

[dogday]

25. Gonzales doesn't need no stinkin truth

He serves at the pleasure of the shrub....

[Kurovski]

26. K&R. (nt)

[Imagevision]

27. Gonalez; " Senator, I don't recall" -- enough is enough of this sh*t!!

[BornagainDUer]

28. This could be the beginning of the end for Bush.