Gonzales, Senators Spar on Credibility

Dear, dear, dear. Alberto Gonzales is up to his old tricks again, simply making things up as he goes along. That's certainly what Democrats claimed yesterday when Gonzales appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Gonzales stated that congressional leaders from both parties agreed in March 2004 to continue a classified surveillance activity that Justice Department officials had deemed illegal.

This brought an instant denial from Pelosi and Rockefeller and others.

"He once again is making something up to protect himself," Rockefeller said of the embattled attorney general.

The dispute came as Gonzales weathered one of the most contentious and hostile congressional hearings seen during the Bush administration. Democrats and the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee accused him of repeatedly misleading them and warned that he could face perjury charges if he lied to the panel.

"I do not find your testimony credible, candidly," said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who became visibly angry at several points during his exchanges with Gonzales. "The committee's going to review your testimony very carefully to see if your credibility has been breached to the point of being actionable."

Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) told Gonzales bluntly: "I don't trust you."

Specter is quite clearly stating that he thinks the embattled Attorney General is sitting before them and repeatedly perjuring himself.

This is all about the visit Gonzales and Card made to the sick bed of John Ashcroft in an attempt to get Ashcroft to overrule Comey's refusal to continue to sanction the classified surveillance activity.

Gonzales's testimony differed from an account Comey provided to the same committee in May. Comey said that he had rushed to the hospital after learning that Gonzales was headed there, and that he believed Gonzales and Card sought "to take advantage of a very sick man." Comey did not mention any discussion in the room about the congressional leadership's views.

Pelosi, Rockefeller and former senator Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.), who were members of the Gang of Eight at the time, also sharply disputed Gonzales's description of the White House meeting. Daschle said in a statement that he could not recall the meeting and is "quite certain that at no time did we encourage the AG or anyone else to take such actions." He added: "This appears to be another attempt to rewrite history."

Rockefeller said that lawmakers were never asked to give the program their approval and that administration officials' infrequent briefings about it were short and involved "virtually no questions."

Here's an example of Gonzales' smug testimony and Specter's reaction to it.



Bush continues to have faith in this man. Here, when the subject moves to the firing of US Attorneys, we have him stating that "there were some instances where peeople were asked to leave, quite frankly, because there was legitimate cause."

You couldn't make this stuff up.



He's becoming a perfect metaphor for the incompetence that defines this administration.

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Tags: Gonzales, fired attorneys, wiretapping, Senate Judiciary Committee, congressional hearings