Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. He needs a cold shower after the grilling he received. First he got the soft touch from Orin Hatch “lauding his extreme integrity and diligence” WTF?
Then the grilling began from Senator Feingold on TSA, Terrorists Surveillance Program and FISA. Caught by Glenn Greenwald
“The Grave and Epic War – Spending time with Alberto Gonzales, Orin Hatch and Russ Feingold”
In an exchange is this weird reply from Gonzales:
Feingold’s first question – “do you know of any one in the country who opposed eavesdropping on terrorists?”
Gonzales: Sure – if you look at blogs today, there is a lot of concern about all types of eavesdropping, who don’t want us eavesdropping at all.
Feingold: Do you know anyone in government who ever took that position?
Gonzales: No, but that is not what I said.
Feingold: It is a disgrace and disservice to your office and the President to have accused people on this Committee of opposing eavesdropping on terrorists.
Gonzales: I didn’t have you in mind or anyone on the Committee when I referred to people who oppose eavesdropping on terrorists. Perish the thought.
Feingold: Oh, well it’s nice that you didn’t have us “in your mind” when making those accusations, but given that you and the President were running around the country accusing people of opposing eavesdropping on terrorists in the middle of an election, the fact that you didn’t have Congressional Democrats in “mind” isn’t significant.
Your intent was to make people think that anyone who opposed the “TSP” did not want to eavesdrop on terrorists, even though that was false. No Democrats oppose eavesdropping on terrorists.Gonzales: I wasn’t referring to Democrats.
(emphasis added)
Hmmm, Good to know Gonzales reads the blogs and that we’re under watch. You know what am saying? BEWARE!
That was just the warm-up of his grilling. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales got BBQed, Well Done and crispy. Senator Patrick Leahy at this point is joined by Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Laura Rozen caught some of this segment on the US attorneys that were pressured to resign:
10:45am: Sen. Feinstein, a member of both the Judiciary and Intel committees, now up. How many US attorneys have been asked to resign in the past year?
Gonzales: You know…. I don’t know the answer to that question. …. We gave you a lot of information in the letter Tuesday. …
Feinstein: I know of at least six who have been asked to resign. I know we amended the Patriot Act…We did not amend it to prevent the confirmation process from taking place. I have had two of them asked to resign from my state with substantially good records as prosecutors, and I am very concerned. Because technically under the Patriot Act you can appoint someone without confirmation for the remainder of the President’s term.
Gonzales: No evidence that is what I am trying to do. […]
Feinstein: Was there any other reason to ask Bud Cummings of Arkansas to resign other than to put [former RNC opposition researcher and Rove aide] Tim Griffin in?
Gonzales: (won’t say). . . .
Leahy: Would it be possible during lunch to get the numbers Sen. Feinstein asked for?
Gonzales: I don’t want to have a public discussion about personnel decisions…..
Leahy: Just the numbers . . .
But the fire to Gonzales’ feet was to come when Sen. Leahy turned to torture and the Canadian Maher Arar case. Leahy showed his anger. He was scathing and gave Gonzales ONE week, saying:
U.S. ‘knew damn well’ Arar would be tortured”
WATCH VIDEO via C&L HERE
From the CBC
“Gonzales was grilled relentlessly on Thursday by Senate judiciary committee chairman Patrick Leahy.
Leahy said that when Arar — a citizen of both Canada and Syria travelling on a Canadian passport — was detained in 2002, American authorities knew he would be tortured if they deported him to Syria.
“We knew damn well if he went to Canada he wouldn’t be tortured,” said Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont. “He’d be held and he’d be investigated.
“We also knew damn well if he went to Syria, he’d be tortured. And it’s beneath the dignity of this country — a country that has always been a beacon of human rights — to send somebody to another country to be tortured.
“You know and I know that has happened a number of times in the past five years by this country. It is a black mark on us.”
Leahy noted that U.S. officials claimed to have had assurances that people sent to Syria would not be tortured.
“Assurances,” he snorted, “from a country that we also say now that we can’t talk to them because we can’t take their word for anything.” Gonzales was not attorney general in 2002 but drafted some of the administration’s justifications for harsh interrogation practices in combating terrorism.
He promised the committee a briefing on the Arar case. It was not immediately clearly whether the information would be made public.
“Before you get more upset,” he told Leahy, “perhaps you should wait to receive the briefing.”
“How long?” the senator responded.
“I’m hoping that we can get you the information next week.”
(emphasis added)
NPR, All Things Considered aired an interview with Senator Leahy.. In short he was still fuming. Leahy is not satisfied and notes the administration did an abrupt U-turn on the NSA wire taps. He has asked the FISA court judge to release records. “No one is above the law and that includes the president” said Leahy. So Stay tuned.
Some BBQ.
Guess Mr. Gonzales saw this coming when he pre-announced Bush would now seek court warrants. But don’t be fooled. Leahy isn’t buying. There are those National Security letters.