New Justice Department Inspector General Report Contains Evidence Of Gonzales Perjury
New Justice Department Inspector General Report Contains Evidence Of Gonzales Perjury
A new Department of Justice inspector general report released today found that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales improperly handled secret information regarding the government’s most sensitive national security programs. DOJ officials have reportedly looked at the report “but did not find a case to prosecute.”
But Gonzales may have done more than just “improperly handle” classified national security documents. CQ’s Spy Talk blog reports that there is “strong evidence” in the report “that the former attorney general lied to federal investigators probing his careless handling of highly classified documents.”
According to the IG report, Gonzales told investigators that he did not know that documents he handled relating to the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program were classified:
Gonzales said that he was unaware of the classification level and compartmented nature of the NSA program he referenced in the notes. Gonzales also stated he did not recall thinking that the notes themselves were classified.
Yet the report also says that an envelope containing the documents were marked “top secret” by Alberto Gonzales himself:
The envelope containing documents related to the NSA surveillance program bore the handwritten markings, “TOP SECRET – EYES ONLY – ARG” [the attorney general's initials] followed by an abbreviation for the SCI codeword for the program.
House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers (D-MI) said it is “shocking” that Gonzales mishandled the documents, adding that the “department ought to explain clearly why it declined to pursue charges against Mr. Gonzales and what actions it intends to take in response to the report.”
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This is not news to many of us but maybe it’s getting to be too much for certain people to ignore any longer…..we can only hope.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:36 pmFINALLY…now maybe the trolls will stopping bringing up “Sandy Burglar”.. guess what trolls, your boys top law enforcement official did the same thing! or maybe worse…
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:37 pmThe DOJ Inspector General is now a heretic in his bosses eyes. I hope he’s updated his resume, he’ll need it.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:38 pmI sure there’s a Medal of Freedom in the works for Gonzales now that his malfeasance has been proven….
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:44 pm“…what actions it intends to take in response to the report.”
Hey, Man, That is a no-brainer! They intend to give Conyers the finger.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:44 pmWell, that pardon is already signed, sealed and delivered. They’re just waiting until after November to let us peons know about it.
PEACE
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:46 pmGDumbya: “I spent all that political capital on that guy and look what I got for it.”
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:51 pmYes, spencers mom, you are right. Even if he were found guilty be would be granted full pardon by GWB. The rpecedent has been set with Libby. Pardon or commuted sentence, to be pardoned later.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:54 pmThey did not spend years getting their judges in place, getting all their little ducks in the right rows for nothing – they knowingly and deliberately broke laws, flouted laws, re-wrote laws, reinterpreted laws, and they knew they could be caught despite their having so many lined up, ready to fight their battles, so they took pains to give GW the “authority” to pardon them all one way or another.
Another day, another “revelation” falls on largely deaf ears. Just once I would like to see the legal process continue to the point that a group of peers evaluates the evidence and determines guilt or innocence. Isn’t that supposed to be how it works?
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:00 pmHow about a “strongly worded letter?” It’s beyond hope that anything will happen beyond that. Conyers is shocked? Give me a break. How many shock therapy treatments will it take before it works?
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:05 pmI honestly think that Death Row Inmates could govern bettern than the Freak Show that is the GOP.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:13 pmJohn Conyers (D-MI) said it is “shocking” that Gonzales mishandled the documents, adding that the “department ought to explain clearly why it declined to pursue charges against Mr. Gonzales and what actions it intends to take in response to the report.”
Oh, come on, Rep. Conyers. The answer to that is obvious: you took impeachment off the table. If Congress refuses to even consider impeaching someone who has publically admitted to committing crimes against humanity, why the heck should anyone in the Administration prosecute one of their own?
You helped create the Imperial Presidency and now you’re complaining about the result? Get real!
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:22 pmPerjury and/or obstruction of justice are clearly crimes. Mukasey must prosecute or face impeachment as a co-conspirator in the largest, highest-level criminal conspiracy in our history.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:26 pmDoc Rock,
remember, impeachment is off the table. That’s why the Bush Administration can literally do whatever it wants.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:30 pmGonzo lied? I am shocked.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:44 pmGuido the Loving OBGYN Says:
Arrest him.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Abso-friggen-lutely arrest and try them man. That is a no brainer in America the LAW is supposed to be king and NO ONE, and no administration, should be against the law.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:46 pmI am sure that if Sarhaha gets into office she will go after all the corrupt republicans there are.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:51 pmGWB? I have a bad feeling that if it goes into next year, Obama will be the one doing all the pardoning. Let’s hope not, but I won’t be surprised.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:35 pmToo bad Bush can’t call Gonzalez a member of the ‘angry left’. I’ll bet he was angry when he left.
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:07 pm.
So, classified documents weren’t classified before they were?
… Are we to expect Gonzo to actually “recall” this fact?
.
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:59 amGonzo also participated in the traitorous outing of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson.
All the top Bush administration Republican lawyers participated.
So, discovering that Alberto Gonzales mishandled classified documents and then lied about it…is par for the corrupt Republican course.
I served in the U.S. Air Force Security Service. I handled classified documents on a daily basis. If I’d mishandled and lied about my mishandling of those documents, I’d have gotten into a heap of trouble.
If I’d intentionally (or unintentionally) divulged the identify of a covert CIA officer, especially one working diligently and patriotically on counter-proliferation of nuclear bombs and other WMD, I’d have ended up in jail alongside Aldrich Ames and Robert Hansen.
But not Gonzo. Not Cheney. Not Libby. Not Bush. Not Rove. Not Addington. Not any of the other Republican scum-traitors who over the past eight years have done so much damage to our democracy, to our standing in the world, to our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Impeach them all, and throw away the key.
Our founding fathers, our citizens today, deserve much, much better.
Obama/Biden ‘08
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:00 amArrest Gonzales!!!!!
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:53 am“We’d like to persecute him but were too busy with this election thing.”
What happened? A year ago we wouldn’t shut up about this idiot?
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:24 amOf course, Mukasey will say that breaking the law doesn’t mean it should be pursued. RICO doesn’t mean it should be pursued. Isn’t it sufficient that the poor man is named after a muppet ?
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:42 amThis is just another example of how weak the Democrats are. They find clear evidence of a crime and they rely on the corrupt Justice Department to do something about it. Rep. Conyers is a coward and shouldn’t be in charge of the Judiciary Committee at all. If this was a Democratic administration, all of these people whould be prosecuted or in jail already. All they have to do is threaten to impeach the Attorney General and he’d be forced to act or recuse himself and let someone else decide whether to appoint a special prosecutor. I’m sure the agents who interview Gonzo would like to charge him, but their bosses are too corupt to act.
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:59 pm