LETTER: Senators Question Gonzales On Abramoff Ties To Administration
LETTER: Senators Question Gonzales On Abramoff Ties To Administration
Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) sent a letter yesterday to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, questioning him on what he knew about the ties between Jack Abramoff and Timothy Flanigan a former White House lawyer, who withdrew his nomination to be deputy attorney general last October.
The letter was in response to recent revelations that Safavian, Abramoff, and Flanigan traded insider information. David Safavian, the indicted former chief of staff of the General Service Administration (GSA), provided “confidential information to lobbyist Jack Abramoff about GSA’s decision to suspend Tyco International’s federal contracts.” Abramoff then passed this information on to Tyco and Flanigan (who was then at Tyco), contacted GSA, which “subsequently decided not to suspend Tyco’s federal contracts.”
Think Progress has posted a copy of the letter here.
Durbin and Leahy pointedly ask Gonzales seven questions about what he and other administration officials knew about Flanigan’s ties to Abramoff. More interestingly, they ask why nothing has been done. Some of the questions:
The letter raises the prospect that Gonzales and the Justice Department have been obstructing this portion of the Abramoff investigation because of their ties to Flanigan.
More here on Abramoff, Flanigan, and Safavian.
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28 Responses to “LETTER: Senators Question Gonzales On Abramoff Ties To Administration”
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I just find it rediculous to think that Gonzales would do such a thing. How can anyone say that this administration is anything but honest.
Oh wait..... How about all of the lies and stonewalling this administration does to keep the truth from being found out? Whew. There for a moment, I almost went to the dark side.
No no your not my father....
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:11 pmAlberto Gonzales is a certified LIAR, just like Bush, so do NOT act surprised that Alberto fudges facts!
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:12 pmNot pretty.
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:16 pmActually , I can't wait to hear what Victoria Toesning has to say. That, will be not pretty.
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:19 pmMakes sense.
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:19 pmI'm thinking Gonzales may be in more than
a spot of trouble on several fronts.
Interesting character. Sort of like #1 suggests, i.e.,
he seemed mostly okay in Texas, relatively speaking,
but seems to have gone over to the dark side being
blindly loyal to the evil dictator (They are going by
that term now, right, or are they still pretending?)
Darth Cheney.
This will be interesting to follow-up on with Gonzalez at the NSA hearings next week:Details about the NSA hearings on the 6th -- get your State officials to commit to watching.
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:19 pmthese guys are certified liars! my god, how can we be so "asleep at the wheel" to have allowed the bastards to be in full, absolute power. with alito in the final branch of government, we are screwed.
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:20 pm#6 Don't count on too much from those hearings. I heard today on a radio show in discussions with a senator, that the Defense department is refusing to turn over memos to the committee. As is the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) refuse, refuse, refuse. Oh and if that does not work, refuse some more.
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:23 pmAs is the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) refuse, refuse, refuse. Oh and if that does not work, refuse some more.
Comment by RemoveBush
Don't forget 'deny' and as a last resort, destroy records.
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:33 pmIt would appear that destroy records
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:37 pmoccurs rather early in the coverup plan.
At least it seems to have in the Plame case.
If Albert Gonzalez had been raised right he would have turned in his resignation awhile back rather than wallow in the mire with his corrupt and arrogant owners. If he had any balls he could be such a powerful force for all that is good and decent in this fantastic country. He's the U.S. Attorney General, for Christ's Sake! Not surprisingly, Monica Lewinskies come in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life. Beto, you bitch, how many nice dresses have you ruined already? Your dry cleaning bill must be off the scale, esa!
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:50 pmWhat Gonzales read:
Dear Attorney General GOnzales;
Blah Blah Blah
Sincerely,
Hoenstly do you think he, or anyone else in this administration is going to cooperate with anyone on any issue?
February 2nd, 2006 at 3:04 pm#4, fly-man, the first words out of Victoria Toesning's mouth will be: "Clinton did it, too!"
February 2nd, 2006 at 3:07 pmHow many lies does it take to get anyone's ire up anymore? (I'm talking in MSM, the average Joe, even the Judiciary.)
TP posted that Gonzales was found to have lied at his confirmation hearing. He said, "Torture? Great! Go Ahead. No Problem." He lied about the illegality of the domestic wiretapping program. Now this? And the fact that they are not going to hand over ANY information re:NSA Spying.
How much does it take to get these criminals out? I just don't understand...
February 2nd, 2006 at 3:20 pm14,
My take on it is that the general population is so busy, so average in IQ, just trying to make ends meet, not getting a good education, and there is so much crap flying out of the government, that the general public just doesn't have the energy, and the intelligence to even be aware of anything to "put a stop to", or even sort out.
February 2nd, 2006 at 3:43 pmAnd most people don't care about this stuff, until their lifestyle, or life, is directly affected. And it has not come to that on a wide scale, yet. By the time it does, maybe too late.
February 2nd, 2006 at 3:45 pmAnd they will receive at least 7 lies in reponse to their letter. This man is not going to tell the truth particularly if he isn't under oath.
February 2nd, 2006 at 4:22 pmLook if this abuse of loyality it's the Presidents fault, but Attrny Gen. Gonzales and John Yoo are not idiots, nor their prior boss John Ashcroft. Flimsy is as Flimsy does. They were going with the hot potato, no e, of flaming constitutional rectal secretion that the VP ordered and he is the one that should be answering all the questions.
February 2nd, 2006 at 4:29 pm[...] ThinkProgress.org reports: Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) sent a letter yesterday to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, questioning him on what he knew about the ties between Jack Abramoff and Timothy Flanigan a former White House lawyer, who withdrew his nomination to be deputy attorney general last October. The letter was in response to recent revelations that Safavian, Abramoff, and Flanigan traded insider information. David Safavian, the indicted former chief of staff of the General Service Administration (GSA), provided “confidential information to lobbyist Jack Abramoff about GSA’s decision to suspend Tyco International’s federal contracts.†Abramoff then passed this information on to Tyco and Flanigan (who was then at Tyco), contacted GSA, which “subsequently decided not to suspend Tyco’s federal contracts.†[...]
February 2nd, 2006 at 5:02 pmCulture of Corruption, brought to you by the GOP. This time, at least.
February 2nd, 2006 at 7:30 pmAMERICA WAKE UP
AL Gonzales all but bought his position
Attorney General
He sold a bill of goods to the Congress.
And now, Congress is pulling the Lemon Law
AMERICA WAKE UP
This is the second letter sent to the AG Gonzales
The first asks of his legitimacy and knowledge of the NSA
And now this calls into question the legitimacy of the AG himself.
AMERICA WAKE UP
February 2nd, 2006 at 8:27 pmah, now that's more like it.
the job of an attorney general is, after all, to protect the president from the depredations of the department of justice.
being president, and i'm sure you understand this, requires breaking the law, just a teensy-tiny bit, from time to time. you know, like wiretapping the conversations of american without a court order. sound ok to you? read some british political history from, say, 1600 to 1800)
so it should not surprise us that alberto gonzales. aka "burt", aka "al",, aka "gonzo", aka "abu gonzales", has influenced actions in the DOJ.
the questioon now is :
is gonzales so burdened with complicity that he must resign?
he is responsible for the 12 hour lapse between the time he learned of the plame investigation's documents request
from DEPT OF JUSTICE LAWYERS and
the time he transmitted that request officially to the white house staff.
during that time, i seem to recall, he spoke with andrew card, the president's chief of staff.
what did they talk about?
oh you know!
the kids soccer,texas a&m vs. texas, the proper sauce for a texas barbeque.
the typical manly thing for a right wing politico to talk about.
but that's not all for abu gonzales
(an aside for readers: the word "abu" means "father" in arabic and is often chosen as an appellation by terrorists. don't ask me why)
senor gonzales also seems to have a relationship with timonthy flannigan, et al.
ordinarily these two problems would be enough to get an AG hauled before congress pronto.
but we don't live in ordinary times. we live in a time when the republican majority in congress functions as a large group of adoring "fans in the stqnds", and
when the authoritarian regime of the cheney administration routinely behaves in the most devious, clandestine manner possible,,
so alberto will probably stay for now.
and he will work furiously to obstruct the plame investigation and prosecution and
the jack abrahmoff investigation and prosectuion.
alberto's the garbage man.
that's his job.
bury the stinking stuff in the landfill.
February 2nd, 2006 at 8:47 pmYes post 22 orionATL > Alberto's job is covering up the garbage for the Bush Regime!
February 2nd, 2006 at 9:25 pmPresident Creates Cabinet-Level Position To Coordinate Scandals
February 1, 2006
WASHINGTON, DC--In his State of the Union address to the nation last night, President Bush announced a new cabinet-level position to coordinate all current and future scandals facing his party.
"Tonight, by executive order, I am creating a permanent department with a vital mission: to ensure that the political scandals, underhanded dealings, and outright criminal activities of this administration are handled in a professional and orderly fashion," Bush said.
The centerpiece of Bush's plan is the Department Of Corruption, Bribery, And Incompetence, which will centralize duties now dispersed throughout the entire D.C.-area political establishment.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/44892
February 2nd, 2006 at 11:37 pm"Since the passage of FISA in 1978, "the Supreme Court has not touched this issue in the area of national security," according to William Banks, a national security expert at Syracuse Law School."
American Progress Report
Here is the criminal Bushite junta's "get out of jail free" card...
In the end warrantless wiretapping is going to come down to a supreme court interpretation/decision...
We all know what happened the last time that august body of jurists decided a case involving the criminal Bushites...
February 3rd, 2006 at 11:56 amAlberto Gonzales is sinking in a big pile of his own waste.
February 4th, 2006 at 10:54 amHe is in it deep. Here's hoping he chokes on it.
I am a stauch supporter of the Progressives in this country. I feel this country is teetering on a precipice with no safety net. Alberto Gonzales is tied in the entire incompetent disaster in which we find ourselves. He needs to be removed from his position. In our country, voting is the way we have constitutionally designed for this to happen. In the end, truth's will be known, people will have died and maybe, just maybe, some true decency will prevail. However, we on the side of truth must conduct ourselves with dignity.
February 5th, 2006 at 6:31 pm[...] of commentary around the deleterious effects of Tyco, Enron, Tom Delay, the Catholic church abuse, Jack Abramoff, etc. And these scandals have highly impacted our culture’s view of the institution. But [...]
March 4th, 2007 at 9:17 pm