Gonzales Is Lying About What He Did the Night DOJ Called Him, Here's Proof

[nashuaadvocate]

Standard practice is to notify all relevant personnel when the DOJ orders a lockdown of potential evidence.

Gonzales did not follow that practice. He waited twelve long hours to do his job.

He now says, according to The Washington Post, that "White House lawyers" told him it was okay to wait.

One problem: Gonzales was the chief "White House lawyer" at the time. There's no one who could possibly have had the authority to give him that directive.

Moreover, Gonzales could not explain, on Sunday, why he would not notify the parties who needed to immediately lock down their relevant documents, but would (and did) notify Andy Card that a lockdown was coming in twelve hours.

Now, note the difference in the news stories covering this: The Guardian says "Gonzales said JUSTICE DEPARTMENT LAWYERS notified him of the investigation around 8 p.m., and he got permission from THEM to wait..."; The Post says otherwise: "Gonzales said the Justice Department had informed his office around 8 p.m. and that WHITE HOUSE LAWYERS said he could wait until the next morning before notifying the staff..."

There is an abso-f*cking-lutely enormous distinction there.

The press should be on this story tomorrow--should be on Scott McClellan tomorrow--like stink on sh*t.

S.

[fooj]

1. Yep. You bet they should be all over this!

I miss your website. It was one of my favorites!

Peace.

[DemReadingDU]

15. Yes indeed...

The nashuaadvocate was one of my favorite websites too. Read Seth at his new blog, The Suburban Ecstasies at http://www.sethabramson.blogspot.com/

[BillZBubb]

2. Ed Meese, another Repug crook, got away with this too.

He gave "honest" Ollie North a whole weekend to shred documents.

I'm sure Gonzo was just following the Repug precedent. The sheeple don't seem to be bothered by it.

[Al-CIAda]

3. I guess he 'negotiated with himself' and decided to

give them a 12 hour head start. You know, I'm closing my eyes, counting to twelve, then peek a boo, where are you?!

[nashuaadvocate]

5. My wife-to-be said the same thing...

..."What, did he look in the mirror?"

LOL

S.

[teach1st]

4. On the Face The Nation interview

He says "I specifically had our lawyers go back to Department of Justice lawyers" to ask if the notification could be made in the morning, meaning, perhaps, that he had his team working on this.

Is it reasonable to think that he asked his team to ask Justice about this?

Do you know where the WP got its quote?

[nashuaadvocate]

6. Well, doesn't make much sense, does it....in fact it makes it worse...

...1) because the DOJ would not have given Gonzales a blanket twelve-hour exemption on the order without also telling him not to tell anyone about it (for fear of destruction of evidence), and/or 2) because, well, why would the DOJ notify the WH at 8 P.M., if their plan was merely to wait until morning to have the plan go into effect?

Frankly, that revelation makes me think that it is the DOJ which ALSO has a problem here, given that they ultimately withdrew from the case for conflict of interest: who at the DOJ called the WH at 8 P.M. with a direct, legally-binding order, and then greenlighted staying that law enforcement order? And why tip off Gonzales in the first place, if you're just going to wait until morning to have the order be effective?

S.

[teach1st]

8. I agree...

I don't know who's lying here, because we're probably inside the spin cycle, but the DOJ notification at 8 pm and then the "sure, just tell 'em in the morning, what the fuck" response seems weird.

If it was important enough to notify at the WH at night, it would have been important enough to make sure all the terms were understood.

[Jackpine Radical]

9. The fact that Bertie is talking at all here

indicates that Fitz knows all about it. It also indicates that someone in the Ashcroft DOJ is in big trouble.

[Jackpine Radical]

11. Somebody oughtta be emailing Helen Thomas

& any other fired-up journalists with a set of "suggested questions."

[kentuck]

10. Ashc roft might have been consulted ...

and White House counsel would take the advice of then Atty General, I would think? Unless Ashcroft or Dept of Justice says Gonzales is wrong? They haven't said that yet. Surely, Gonzales would know that info could be verified? Seems like Gonzales is covering his own butt and is refusing to be the fall guy to me?

[WhiteTara]

20. did he talk to Asscrap?

If so that might explain it.

[hang a left]

26. I read today that it was actually Asscroft who made the notification,

Remember at the onset of the criminal referral from the CIA, Asshat was running the investigation.

[central scrutinizer]

33. so he not only told Andy Card, but

he told other lawyers, his team, in the White House 12 hours in advance. Any chance any of "his team" might also have warmed up the shredders and made some phone calls?

"He says "I specifically had our lawyers go back to Department of Justice lawyers" to ask if the notification could be made in the morning, meaning, perhaps, that he had his team working on this."

[Scout1071]

7. All excellent questions.

This does seem to be a pretty big point.

If Martha can alter her email/phone logs, something tells me some hi tech people in the WH could do it even more discreetly.

[meg]

12. Permission was from DOJ lawyers, not WH lawyers

Supposedly, Gonzales asked WH lawyers who worked for him to ask the DOJ.

It's BS from Gonzales in any case.

[Supersedeas]

32. so there are DoJ lawyers in on the delayed directive order as well

Who are these RW shills?

[teach1st]

13. A few things I'm unclear on...

..did Gonzales tell Card before or after the DOJ allegedly told Gonzales that he could wait until morning?

Did Gonzales tell Card that night that all related documents must be preserved?

If a document trashing party was arranged, it's doubtful that phones would have been used to call everybody, since these guys know that phone logs are reviewable and a flurry of phone calls at 8 pm to the usual suspects would be suspect. Are Blackberry logs available?

[hang a left]

28. That is a great question.

I would suspect that Blackberry logs are personal. And I heard everyone has one.

[hlthe2b]

14. Well, if ASSSKKKKROFT was involved... not much of a distinction...

God, I hope this all comes to a head with indictments soon. While each breaking story is titillating, these asses are in there destroying our country for decades to come. We've got to clean house NOW.

[kentuck]

18. Ashcroft is a born-again Christian...

He wouldn't lie. Just ask him.

[hlthe2b]

22. yeah, right...

So, if we do get the mass frog-march, do we get to see Johnny Boy go along?

[nookiemonster]

41. Let the Eeeeeaaagllles Soarrrrrrrr.....

Yikes. I get the creeps just thinking about that song.

BTW, we still haven't got the smell of Asscrack out of here yet.

Damn! Anyone gotta candle?

[ThoughtCriminal]

16. Has anybody asked why he asked for permission

to wait until morning?

[teach1st]

17. I know that one...

George had already been tucked in and Rove was busy with Gannon.

[jaysunb]

40. He He !

:toast:

[whistle]

19. This sounds like an "Oh Shit" moment for Gonzales as well as the

...White House.

[Burried News]

21. The date of the notification was 9/29/2003

Ashcroft was still Attorney General and I believe had recused himself by this time. Gonzales' bio says "he was commissioned as Counsel to President George W. Bush in January of 2001".

So in this particular case he was wearing two hats. I think in a discussion at dailyKos it was 'sumized' that Ashcroft must have given the OK for an 11+ hour delay despite the recusal - an involvement that Ashcroft had not mentioned to anyone's knowledge.

So the question "who gave Gonzales permission for the delay" is a good one.

It could be more a case of Gonzales wasn't asked the right question, rather than that he lied.

[hang a left]

27. No not until he was pressured to and had no choice

Ashcroft Says His Investigators Have Made Gains in Leak Case
By ERIC LICHTBLAU

Published: October 17, 2003


ASHINGTON, Oct. 16 — Under pressure over his handling of the investigation into the disclosure of an undercover C.I.A. officer's identity, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Thursday that investigators had made good progress but that he had not ruled out removing himself from the case.

Mr. Ashcroft also left open the possibility of appointing a special counsel to take over the case and of approving subpoenas to reporters in order to find the source of the leak. "I have not foreclosed any options in this matter," he said.

With the investigation now ending its third week, Mr. Ashcroft said: "I believe that we have been making progress that's valuable in this matter. And we will devote every energy that's available, and every resource that's available at the highest level of intensity."

snip

The White House counsel, Alberto R. Gonzales, in a letter dated Wednesday to two Democratic senators, Charles E. Schumer of New York and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, said the administration had worked to ensure the integrity of the investigation.

Mr. Gonzales said White House officials "have already forwarded on a rolling basis thousands of pages of documents" to the Justice Department in response to investigators' request for relevant records on Mr. Wilson and his wife, Valerie Plame.



Original Thread October 18, 2003


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Burried News]

35. Thank you for the correction. I have watched this case fairly

closely and missed this IMPORTANT detail. Ashcroft had to be pressured to do the right thing.

[hang a left]

38. Hey no problem......

I forgot a bunch of stuff from 2 years ago when this all started. I had totally forgot about Gonzales waiting 12 hours before notifying the White House until yesterday when the story broke again

[hang a left]

29. Not in the beginning. Ashcroft was handling the investigation.

Ashcroft Says His Investigators Have Made Gains in Leak Case
By ERIC LICHTBLAU

Published: October 17, 2003


ASHINGTON, Oct. 16 — Under pressure over his handling of the investigation into the disclosure of an undercover C.I.A. officer's identity, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Thursday that investigators had made good progress but that he had not ruled out removing himself from the case.

Mr. Ashcroft also left open the possibility of appointing a special counsel to take over the case and of approving subpoenas to reporters in order to find the source of the leak. "I have not foreclosed any options in this matter," he said.

With the investigation now ending its third week, Mr. Ashcroft said: "I believe that we have been making progress that's valuable in this matter. And we will devote every energy that's available, and every resource that's available at the highest level of intensity."

snip

The White House counsel, Alberto R. Gonzales, in a letter dated Wednesday to two Democratic senators, Charles E. Schumer of New York and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, said the administration had worked to ensure the integrity of the investigation.

Mr. Gonzales said White House officials "have already forwarded on a rolling basis thousands of pages of documents" to the Justice Department in response to investigators' request for relevant records on Mr. Wilson and his wife, Valerie Plame.



Original Thread October 18, 2003


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Nevilledog]

23. He told more people than Card by his own admission.

If members of his "team" were the ones who contacted the DOJ to confirm it was "okay" to wait until the next morning then he had to tell the people on his "team" what was up. Who were they? What did they do? What were they told? Who did they tell?

[Bucky]

24. 2 yrs since the leak & just now this far. Bush could've solved it in 1min

The next question is, why hasn't Bush done jack about this leak? It happened two years ago. If Bush cared to, he could've resolved the whole matter in a sixty second meeting in the Oval Office. "If."

[kestrel91316]

25. Bush doesn't WANT it solved .................

because it all leads right to HIM.

[enough]

30. Another good question.

[confludemocrat]

31. "Procedure" he followed is evidence itself of a cover-up& conspiracy

Special prosecutor knows all this certianly and this would drive me if I found it out and I was Fitzgerald. It is inexcusably, baldly fraudulent conduct.

I am interested in how much closer we are to Bush and/or Cheney themselves.

[tuvor]

34. Kick!

[dzika]

36. ...

.

[bleever]

37. Kick.

[FreedomAngel82]

39. Oh wow!!

Good catch! Remember that Bush appoints people to high position's who helped him a long the way (look at Rice and all that for example). He was very quickly promoted. So could this prove that Bush was involved in the Wilson/Plame ordeal?