Monday, July 30, 2007

District of Bizarro XVI: Gonzo Sticks His Foot In

During his testimony before a hostile Senate Judiciary Committee, Alberto 'Gonzo' Gonzales blundered big time. He admitted the existence of other secret, domestic spying programs besides the controversial and warrantless wiretapping program previously revealed in public. When asked to explain why he visited the hospitalized Attorney General, he denied it was to seek approval from John Ashcroft for the wiretapping, but was "about other intelligence activities". The testimony contradicts that of another participant in the bedside meeting, Deputy AG Jim Comey, who testified he was disturbed by what he perceived as an attempt to take advantage of a "very sick man". 'Gonzo' also contradicted his own previous testimony when he said that Comey was referring to the same "highly classified program which the President [publicly] confirmed". You blew it, Mr. Attorney General. You either lied under oath or blew the cover of another, probably illegal, spying operation. No wonder Senator Leahy does not trust you. As a civil officer of the United States you can be impeached. I would be happy to add you to the list. Worst Administration, Ever.

Weekend Update FBI director Robert Mueller supplied more evidence of 'Gonzo's' perjury yesterday by confirming Deputy Attorney Genearal Comey's version of the arm twisting applied to Attorney General Ashcroft while hospitalized to approve the controversial NSA warrantless wiretapping. The Regime continued to defend the hapless Gonzales by saying "confusion is inevitable" when discussing secret intelligence operations. Yes, it is especially if the Attorney General is lying.

More: The flimsy distinctions being crafted by the right wing to ward off the accusations against Gonzales elevate nit picking to new heights of absurdity. The argument is that Gonzales is legalistically correct when he makes a distinction between "other intelligence matters" and the NSA warrantless wiretap program. Apparently the reference used by Gonzales was meant to refer to data mining by NSA prior to the presidential approval of the wiretap program in 2005. However, the entire domestic spying program by NSA goes back to 2001. Objections raised by Department of Justice officials about the legality of domestic spying in 2004 concerned that program which became the "terrorist surveillance program" approved by the President and confirmed in public. If the Solicitor General refuses senators' request to appoint a special prosecutor for Gonzales, he should be impeached. After all, the bar was set low by the Republicans themselves when they impeached Bill Clinton for lying under oath about doing "that woman" in the White House.