Gonzales May Be Recalled on Eavesdropping

[deadparrot]

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' written answers to questions about the Bush administration's eavesdropping program may require him to testify a second time before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the panel's Republican chairman said Monday.

"There is a suggestion in his letter there are other classified intelligence programs that are currently under way," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., told reporters.

The comments from the moderate Republican come as the Bush administration is trying to quell criticism of its surveillance operations and work with the Senate on legislation that would write the program into law.

In a letter to Specter last week, Gonzales clarified his testimony in a half dozen areas covered in a daylong Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Feb. 6.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060307/ap_on_go_co/eavesdropping

[acmejack]

1. Under oath this time?

Or do the republiCONs still trust him him implicitly?

[xultar]

4. It is a surprise. They are gonna give him the meddle of freedom.

[Inland]

2. AG changes his testimony and it leads to some follow up questions.

Not so weird.

[DavidDvorkin]

3. I'm sure it would work the same way if I cheated on my taxes

If I were audited and insisted that I had no other income than what I had declared, and if later evidence turned up that there was other income, and I had known all about it all along, then no doubt the IRS would gently ask me some followup questions and finally say, "Thank you so much for coming in and clearing that up. You have a nice day now, okay? Sir?"

[tatertop]

5. They will not lay a hand on him

same as always

[0007]

13. Sounds like "Speedy Gonzales" will be true to form, eh?

Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Judiciary Committee's top Democrat, said Monday that Gonzales should come back before the panel to "clear up the confusion he created first by ducking our questions, and later by further clouding the issues with a 'clarifying' letter that substantially revised his unsworn testimony."

Specter's comments suggest he too has concerns about Gonzales' letter. "We may have to have him back before the Judiciary Committee," Specter said.

The Justice Department has not received a formal request to testify, spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said. "As a matter of practice, officials from the department do not discuss, confirm or deny the existence or nonexistence of any classified intelligence programs in public settings," he added.

Specter was one of the first Republicans to break with the White House to question the surveillance program when it was disclosed in December. He's drafting legislation that would require a secret federal intelligence court to conduct regular reviews of the constitutionality of the monitoring.

What a rat!

West Coast rag

[tatertop]

14. a rat bastard for sure

[kayice]

6. Gonzo lies for 'his client'; the President.

Gonzales-- if you watched the hearings....has more spins than a Magtag Neptune, is an arrogant lying ass!

Who are the two lawyers that went bye-bye in BushCo. when they dared question about the wiretapping? Gonzo looked mighty nervous when their names were brought up, Specter needs to get some courage and swear those two guys in.....instead of sweeping things under the rug.

[Mnemosyne]

12. James B. Comey is one. He followed

Asscroft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_B._Comey

[Changenow]

7. When pigs fly.

Gonzo or any of them will not be accountable. This is just pathetic posturing for the media, and is will work flawlessly as it always does.

[Sydnie]

8. We didn't need no stinking written answers

we knew he was alluding to "other programs" the day he testified. What took Specter so long to figure that out?

[kainah]

10. whistleblower hearings

Rep Christopher Shays held formal hearings within the last month on whistleblower protections. Unfortunately, I'm very tired right now and so names aren't really coming to me. But one of those who testified was Russell Tice. I'm not sure if it was Tice (think so) or someone else but there was testimony (presumably under oath) that there is another spy program that is much more intrusive and extensive. This person also said that the people to whom he was testifying did not have the clearance to know the details. At the very least, this one House committee knows absolutely that there is another secret spy program.

[journalist3072]

9. J. Edgar Hoover would be so proud of BushCo!! eom

[HereSince1628]

11. Specter must have been asleep at his own hearing, because Gonzo

made it pretty clear during his testimony that there were other intelligence programs collecting information from US citizens within the United State.