GONZALES To Congress: GET LOST - I Can't Waste My Time Responding To Subpoenas

[kpete]

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has indicated he is too busy to answer letters from Democratic congressional leaders about his firing seven U.S. attorneys involved in probes of public corruption, though a lower-level Justice Department official rejected their proposals.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, House Democratic Caucus chairman, had written Gonzales two letters suggesting that he name Carol Lam, fired as U.S. attorney in San Diego, as an outside counsel to continue her pursuit of the Duke Cunningham case. Asked by Melissa Charbonneau of the Christian Broadcasting Network about this column’s report that Gonzales did not respond, Gonzales said: “I think that the American people lose if I spend all my time worrying about congressional requests for information, if I spend all my time responding to subpoenas.”

Richard A. Hertling, the acting Justice Department lobbyist, responded Wednesday, 22 days after Emanuel’s letter. He contended “the Justice Department would not ever seek the resignation of a U.S. attorney if doing so would jeopardize a public corruption case” and rejected naming Lam as a special prosecutor.


http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Robert+D.+Novak%3A+Another+Hillary+defector&articleId=65463a14-f0a4-4663-9f46-1d5189c56100

[spanone]

1. No Alberto, the American people lost when you were approved as AG.

[halobeam]

2. Well said.

It takes some head in the sand idiot to think this LIAR is representing the people and not the administration.

He has GOT to go.

[depakid]

11. The Dem "leadership" allowed hin to be confirmed

and he's calling their bluff again. When you have the history of cowardice and ineffectualness that the Dems have shown as a party over the past 6 years, you have to expect conduct like this from the far right.

[Toots]

23. I agree 100% with your assessment

We are having a Constitutional Crisis right at this very moment and IMO the Democrats will once again buckle...Anytime a subpoena is ignored, especially for the reason of being too busy, there is a crisis. If this goes to the Extreme Court (Scalia court) is there any doubt how they will rule? Congress may as well pack up and go home as they are about to become null and void....A Dictatorship will have officially begun...

[GreenPartyVoter]

28. Agreed

[PassingFair]

50. Hey, At least they still have...

dry powder.....

:eyes:

That's all they've been concerned about over the past six years.

That, and telling us push to the back and widen the "tent".

[lovuian]

51. I want the Supreme court to have their siggie on its ok for

an attorney general to ignore a supoena

I want to see that vote

and the House Dems are doing their job which is going to embarass the hell out of the Senate

[Maraya1969]

75. He HAS to respond to the subpoenas right? I didn't think anyone was above the law.

[colorado_ufo]

84. Chilling, and damn accurate.

[robinlynne]

36. exactly. another inconvenient truth.

[yurbud]

63. yep. they confirmed a publicly admitted war criminal--his role in torture memos not in dispute

Every single democrat should have voted against him.

Six didn't

Six Democratic senators also backed Bush's nominee: Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Bill Nelson of Florida, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Ken Salazar of Colorado.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/04/MNG8TB5NLQ1.DTL

[momster]

64. The Usual Suspects

I'm shocked...shocked...to find out that they voted as their Republican overlords wanted.

[Maraya1969]

76. The Dems weren't a majority when he was confirmed.

[Lena inRI]

78. Bingo! . . . accurate explanation, depakid. . .

so much of the neocons' successful takeover is due to the Democrats' continuous unwillingness to stand up to Republican tantrums. . .just like incorrigible children whose parents cave in to their misbehavior because they can't deal with it. . . so the kids act out again and again. . .

I'm watching closely the Congressional hearings next week because if I see MORE CAVING IN by the Democratic "parents," I'll have to end my hopes for any Democratic reform . . .

THEN WE PEOPLE ARE REALLY SCREWED AND TRULY ON OUR OWN. PERIOD.

:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[AzDar]

3. The American people 'lost' the moment you were sworn in, Renfield.

Good god, the hubris....

[Hubert Flottz]

4. Can you imagine the fit the GOP would have thrown if Janet Reno

had said something like that?

[Canuckistanian]

54. You would need hearing protection from the screams of "Rule of Law!"

And, of course, calls for her execution as a traitor.

[angstlessk]

5. What a fucktard.."the American people lose" because you are

the Attorney General..we have lost our FREEDOMS...and you need to answer for that..fucktard!

[indepat]

6. 'puke way of telling the Congress to go fu*k off

[kristopher]

8. The perfect incident to test the impeachment waters with

Send a clear message: Misuse your office, display contempt for Congressional oversight - get impeached

[glitch]

25. I have no problem starting with him. Should be quick and easy too.

And gratifying. Come on Nancy, easy pickens.

[indepat]

34. I'll second that

[hang a left]

40. Good idea

How do you go about doing that??

[annabanana]

7. This is exactly the response we can expect from

Abu Gonzales. As the B*sh Family's personal retainer he served the wishes of BuschCo. exclusively. The fact that his boss is now The People of the United States is completely lost on him. His job has always been to figure out ways to circumvent the law, so his boys could do exactly what they want, regardless of statute. This procedure hasn't changed now that he occupies the office of the Attorney General of the United States.

Congress should immediately demand (yes DEMAND) that he appear and start explaining his actions. The preeminent law enforcement officer in the country cannot be allowed to break the law. Period.

[havocmom]

12. What ananbanana said: Congress should immdeiately demand that he appear and start explaining

Slap his ass with contempt if he utters ANYTHING disparaging about being called to account. It's his fucking job! Congress needs to explain it to him IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS. He is the nation's lawyer or he is outta there!

Contact your congress critters and insist they make the AG do OUR work or get serious about the steps to remove him. The pResident has a lawyer or twelve. The postion of AG is NOT for the pResident's lawyer.

We The People... let congress AND media know in no uncertain terms that Gonzales is a criminal and criminal enabler and we DEMAND his removal.

[eppur_se_muova]

67. Exactly. Anyone want to try telling your boss "I have better things to do ...

than answer your questions"? In the Real World, that gets you fired. Abu Gonzalez deserves the same. I still think AG should be impeached first -- he is so underqualified for his position, and so deliberately defies the Constitution, that he is probably the softest target. Not even the Repugs in Congress want him to stay badly enough to go to the mat for him.

[shance]

9. I wonder if people realize the harm these people are doing to the rule of law.

They are essentially destroying any rule of law by saying they don't have to answer to anyone.

The consequences are never good for society when individuals like this take power.

[originalpckelly]

10. No, he's going to answer the subpoena.

And we're going to protest that SOB until he does!

[Hubert Flottz]

13. WE need to keep this kicked up and...

we need to write our congresscritters about Gonzo being out of control. If he's too busy to do his job then we need someone who can do it. Remember how the GOP grilled Janet Reno over everything under the sun? I DO!

[Hugin]

14. Unbelievable...

He is most assuredly NOT above the Law.

[TankLV]

15. Will our Democratic Leadership do anything about this THIS time?

I doubt it.

I would love to be proved wrong, but I doubt it.

When you have persons in positions of leadership like the current asswipe here in charge of the Democrats in Clark County and Nevada - the fucktard who INVITED FAUX to "moderate" the latest Democratic Party event here in Nevada and who just doesn't get it, it is hard to expect anything of meaningful action...

[Seabiscuit]

16. It's not our "Democratic leadership" that's to blame.

It's all those in Congress who resist their leadership - not just in the Republic party, but numerous dems as well.

[marmar]

17. Order of impeachment:

Gonzales first, then Bush and Cheney. Get rid of the enabler first.

[City Lights]

18. The Bush cabal answers to no one.

He needs to be dragged into court by his balls. :mad: :grr:

[dogday]

19. I think the American People lose with the likes of Gonzales

as the head of our Justice Department....

[SammyWinstonJack]

20. ...

:kick:

[Donnachaidh]

21. FIRE this asshole!

Enough already! Will someone PLEASE bring him up on insubordination charges or something -- and then FIRE his ass already! :grr:

[Peace Patriot]

22. Throw Diebold, ES&S and all election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!

You will be surprised how fast transparent vote counting can change things. Look at South America!

Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, Nicaragua--all now with good leftist (majorityist) governments--all the result of long hard work by the OAS, the Carter Center, EU election monitoring groups, and local civic groups, on TRANSPARENT elections, as well as the work of many on grass roots organization. Next, Peru and Paraguay, and possibly Guatemala. The entirety of South and Central America is being transformed by these three precepts: 1. transparent elections. 2. grass roots organization. 3. Think big.

It can happen here, too, but we MUST focus on the vote counting mechanism, because it was taken over, during the 2002 to 2004 period, by rightwing Bushite electronic voting corporations, using 'TRADE SECRET,' PROPRIETARY programming code, with virtually no audit/recount controls.

Know how much of a handcount Venezuela does as a check on its electronic (open source code) voting machine totals?: 55%!

Know how much WE handcount for Bushite controlled, SECRETLY coded voting systems: 0% to 1%, depending on how much of a stranglehold Diebold and ES&S have on local election officials and legislators. That's right. Some states have NO paper ballot at all, for a recount or audit, and no audit requirement. The best--the best!--do a completely inadequate 1% audit. This is the result of lavish lobbying, Bushite planning, and the mind-boggling silence of our Democratic Party leadership.

That IS the problem. That is why the Vice President of the US is planning a SECOND war, when 74% of the American people want the first war ended, and a whopping 84% oppose any US participation in a widened Mideast war. That is why torturing prisoners has not resulted in impeachment, when 63% of the American people oppose torture "under any circumstances" (May '04). That is why we had the Iraq War anyway, when 56% of the American people opposed it, way back before it started (Feb. '03). That is why torture memo writer Alberto Gonzales is still in office. The Bush Junta feels NO accountability to the American people, because we did not elect them.

We had to outvote their machines just to get a half-decent Congress, but it is one that is still not fully representative of the American people. This half-representative Congress plans to lard Diebold and ES&S with more billions of our dollars, to "fix" the election system that they deliberately broke, and are going to leave the 'TRADE SECRET' code in place and add the bandaid of printers and a 2% audit. This fraudulent voting system should NEVER have been put in place. The extreme insecurity and insider hackability of these machines was covered up. They should NEVER have been fast-tracked across the country and permitted to control a major election--2004--without a ONE HUNDRED PERCENT handcount of PAPER BALLOTS against the machine totals. The election system ITSELF is fraudulent, and of course produced a fraudulent President and Vice President, and a half fraudulent Congress. What do you expect from rightwing Bushite corporations "counting" all the votes under a veil of corporate secrecy?

Alberto Gonzales should long ago have been put in jail. You know this. I know this. The fraudulent election of 2004, and the half-fraudulent elections of 2006, are why, instead, this criminal is in charge of our nation's justice system. When he fires special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, after the test run on other honest US attorneys, maybe people will finally get it. We have suffered a FASCIST COUP, and the coup mechanism was Bushite corporate-controlled vote "counting" --a Priority One problem that likely can only be solved at the state/local level, where ordinary people still have some influence. It CAN be done. Many grass roots efforts are under way. Let's hope we succeed before these bastards have entirely ruined our country.

[helderheid]

24. WHAT YOU SAID

[bagrman]

39. VOTE BY MAIL-VOTE BY MAIL- VOTE BY MAIL - Change now before next election.

[Peace Patriot]

66. I advocate Absentee Ballot voting, and Vote by Mail, because it is a way to get a

paper ballot, and because the VOTERS are using these methods to BOYCOTT these machines in large numbers, in an effort to get around the rigged electronics, and any and all voter revolts should be supported and utilized in the fight to restore transparent vote counting. But, caveat--the Absentee Ballots are not currently handled well. Often, they are merely scanned into the electronic system, and are no more secure than optiscan votes (not very secure--all votes are turned into electrons and "sent" to the central tabulators also run on "trade secret" code). I think this may also be done with Votes By Mail. But we can ORGANIZE this revolt, and pressure local/state officials with this very big constituency of mail-in, electronic machine-boycotting voters, to get them to HAND-COUNT the mail-in votes and post the results BEFORE any electronics are used. I think this is a good strategy to obtain a paper ballot system by default--and thus evade the very sticky problem of corruption (those billions for e-voting systems are passing through a lot of fingers), or say, give some room to an election official who wants to reform but who is stuck having paid tens of millions for this crapass technology and fears career loss at a turnabout. Let them keep their shiny new crapass insecure machines, but HAND-COUNT the votes of the people who clearly want hand-counting. Then it will snowball. Everyone will want a hand-counted paper ballot. And we will eventually get the machines phased out as obsolete (or they can keep them, to store and report data,). It's the AUDIT that matters--how much of the paper ballots get compared to the machine totals, and posting of the results right after the handcount. Those are the critical issues. That can start getting us transparent vote counts, before the machines are even gone.

The machines were so quickly entrenched--and in such corrupt ways--they are very hard to get rid of. That's why our Democratic leaders seem so nuts on this matter. Billions of dollars are involved. Also, I think they fear these corporations, who can UN-elect them. (Look what happened to Kevin Shelley--with the cooperation of the state party leadership!--when he sued Diebold, six months before the 2004 election. "Swift-boated" out of office, on entirely bogus corruption charges. He was probably the ONLY clean politician in the entire state of California! And one of the leaders of that horrid event was Diebold shill Connie McCormack, head of elections in Los Angeles--who just turned 4 million voters over to a Diebold subsidiary. Oppose Diebold, and really call them on their shit, and see your career ended--swiftly.)

[loudsue]

45. What you said was confirmed at the Am. Assoc. for Advancement of Science

conference held in San Francisco in late February.

There was a panel of scientists at the conference whose talk was entitled "Do We Have a Democracy Yet?". This panel of statisticians and mathemeticians showed that, except for gerrymandering and secret vote counting machines, the Dems would have taken 20 (TWENTY!!! ) more seats in 2006 than they actually took!!

A lot of Dems have become complacent about the voting machine issues, because we actually managed a majority in the house, and a VERY TENUOUS one-vote majority in the Senate this time around. So it's all ok, right? Not a chance.

The voting machine issue, primarily, and the lack of a paper trail or audits, continues to prevent ALL Americans from having the Democracy we deserve.

We have GOT to get State legislatures to throw the Diebold, ES&S, Triad group's thieving machines into the Boston Harbor. Our federally elected officials keep trying to maintain the status quo of their jobs, and until we get rid of the machines, WE ARE POWERLESS TO CHANGE THEIR STATUS QUO!

:applause: Great post, PeacePatriot...as usual! :hug:

:kick::kick::kick::kick::kick:

[Loge23]

26. Gonzales is the enemy of freedom

Why Congress tolerates this avowed fascist is beyond me. Have we ever suffered a more sinister, patently evil, individual such as this piece of garbage - Gonzales? Even Asscroft wasn't this bad.
Plain and simple, the people of the U.S. must guard against threats to our way of life and our freedom. Islamic terrorists are far less of a true threat to our freedom than the people who are charged with our protection. Yes, terrorists are hateful, violent, and should be treated accordingly. But are we truly fighting "for our country" against them?
After 9/11, it was fashionable to say we cannot let the terrorists win. We must continue to enjoy our freedoms and not let them claim victory by giving into an erosion of our lifestyle. But that's just we did. We let them win. They have severely disrupted our freedom by simply standing by and watching our own government turn into a far worse threat to us than they, the terrorists, ever could be.
There is a lot of talk these about the Manchurian Candidate scenario. What about Cheney, Gonzales, and their idiot mouthpiece Bush? Where did these bastards come from and what the $&^# is their agenda?

[Missy Vixen]

37. Let's face it. I hated Ashcroft.

At the same time, these bastards showed up in his hospital room while he had pancreatitis and tried to force him to sign off on the illegal NSA wiretapping. He wouldn't do it. Neither would James Comey, the acting Attorney General at the time.

I really detest Ashcroft, but on that day, he did his job. For all of us.

Julie

[annabanana]

48. a fundie & an ideologue, but not a dishonest man...

I thank him for recusing himself.

[mike_c]

27. congress should subpeona Gonzales and drag him in front of a committee...

...to waste his time answering questions if he won't respond otherwise.

[Laurab]

30. That was my thought, as well

He has a lot to answer for.

[malaise]

42. Bingo

I hope that's the plan.

[hang a left]

43. Can't he be arrested???

[Cass]

29. Now that's a set of brass ones. Who in the heck does he think he is?

Let's hope the dems are prepared to nail his ass to the wall for this stunning display of arrogance.

[rug]

31. Time to use the"poena" part of subpoena.

[goforit]

32. Handcuffs in jail will give Congress all the time they need to sit Alberto's ass

down.

Just Goforit

[Nay]

33. This cannot stand. A question for the legal minds here -- what does

one do with an attorney general who refuses to be subpoenaed? What exactly is the process that needs to get started, and who starts it? I want to know who should be held accountable if he is allowed to get away with this.

[hang a left]

44. I would think that it is contempt and he could be arrested??

Am I right?

OMG I can't even believe this.

What if everyone in the country said if the AG of the USA doesn't have to comply to a subpoena why does anyone???

[napi21]

47. Punishment is a contempt citation. See link for description

http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL31836.pdf

The link is to a LONG but very informative description of Congressional subpoena powers and how they've been successfully used over the years. The consequence of not responding (ignoring) a subpoena is a contempt citation which is punishable by fines and/or imprisonment.

It also explains how Congress can work around claims of "executive privelege", "self incrimination", or "national security".

It's 39 pages long, but easy to scan through and get a lot of good info.

[dkofos]

35. Al, you too can be impeached!!

[Old and In the Way]

38. Gonzales knows that he can't answer the subpeona and testify without committing perjury.

He's been giving this administration legal cover for their criminal actions. They want to provoke a constitutional crisis...but I think they are on the wrong side of the law and public opinion.

[bagrman]

41. Kind of smells of a dictatorship.

[lovuian]

46. Ok so he doesn't come in for his supoena that is violation of the

law OMG this man's arrogance

Now whats Congress going to do?

I think a civillain arrest that is whats going to have to be done

[annabanana]

49. Mr "no right to habeas corpus" should disappear.. . . n/t

[Roy]

72. Without his right to Habeas Corpus?????

Love to see people get caught up in laws they themselves enacted!

[The Backlash Cometh]

52. What police power does the Congress have to compel Gonzalez

to physically appear before Congress? Because, if Gonzo thinks he's above the Constitution, I think we have the source of our problem.

[lovuian]

53. They can make a citizen arrest by going in and arresting him

calling in the police dept at Washington

this is going to really show the Constitution Crisis that we see is really going to come to a head

that these men are in powers of our federal police and ignoring the constitution cause "they are too busy"

thats the wrong answer

[The Backlash Cometh]

56. Well, we had better start now to frame this as the Bush Administration

having something to hide and thinking they're above the law. Because you know the White House will use this issue to divide this country by playing out the conflict on right-wing radio.

[napi21]

55. See my post #47. Refusal to respond to a subpoena is punishable

by issuing a Contempt Citation, fines and/or imprisonment!

[The Backlash Cometh]

57. Thanks!

[Disturbed]

62. Will Sen Leahy issue a Contempt Order and Arrest this AG?

Will The House proceed with their sworn Oath?

[minnesota_liberal]

58. Failing to respond to a subpoena? Can Gonzo be held in contempt?

[yurbud]

60. and sent to jail? how many seconds before he'd be somebody's bitch?

[otohara]

59. We Lose Anyway You Look At It

2 god awful more years of these lunatics, murderers, liars.

[napi21]

65. Actually, a contempt order issued to Gonzo would be a hell of a

shot across the bow of the WH! Fined or imprisoned, Gonzo could no longer the AG, and I'm not sure there's anyone else who would risk their career for the Shrub!

[Trillo]

61. Wow! WTF happens if most any other citizen decides to ignore

a subpeona.

More than anything else I've yet seen, this seems direct evidence, if Gonzales's quote is accurate, that this administration is 'above the law.

The attorney firings at the Justice Department are part of this pattern.

This group running the Executive Branch needs to be impeached.

[ProudDad]

68. Subpoena the bastard

then, if he refuses, throw his ass in the D.C. jail for contempt...

[Joanne98]

69. Contempt of Congress. Isn't that illegal?

Charge him and send him to prison.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

86. write to your congressman (woman) and complain

[Hubert Flottz]

70. He's got time to go visit a Baptist convention and suck up to the

GOP's base, but he don't have time to report to congress? What is wrong with that picture?

Attorney General Gonzales Deputizes the Southern Baptist Convention in New Initiative

snip...

US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales sought out a meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee as his venue to unveil the new religious liberty initiative of the Department of Justice during a speech in Nashville on Tuesday. The "First Freedom Project" touts the Administration's record arguing religious freedom claims through its Civil Rights Division, provides resources on free exercise rights, and a new "Report on Enforcement of Laws Protecting Religious Freedom." The project also invites tips on potential discrimination the DOJ might investigate. Gonzales made special mention of this near the end of his talk:

ake no mistake, I am here to ask the Southern Baptist Convention, and all of you in this room, for your help. The Department of Justice has many tools to protect religious freedoms in this country, and we are using them. But even with all of our passion and our dedication to this cause, we cannot do it alone.
Associated Baptist Press has more.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/2/22/104711/204/Front_Page/Attorney_General_Gonzales_Deputizes_the_Southern_Baptist_Convention_in_New_Initiative

[truebrit71]

71. Subpoena his ass, plain and simple...see if he has time to "worry" about that one...

..these arrogant assholes need to be held to account...Starting with Abu Gonzales..

[HCE SuiGeneris]

73. Has any member of either House responded to this yet?

[Patsy Stone]

74. Don't respond, Al.

I'd be much happier if you were locked away on a contempt charge. You've certainly earned my contempt.

[seafan]

77. John Dean: What Democrats Should Do, When the Bush Adm Stonewalls Oversight Efforts

John Dean: What Should Congressional Democrats Do, When the Bush Administration Stonewalls Their Efforts To Undertake Oversight?




The shorter, distilled version of Dean's article is here


More related discussion about Gonzales specifically, here

[Terri S]

79. mmm.... what subpoena? Did I miss something?

Ok, maybe I'm missing something, but as far as I can tell Gonzales was NOT served with a subpoena. He may have refused to answer letters..gee, that's real unusual for them isn't it.. and maybe he's just thinking about subpoenas to come.. but I don't see where he was served this time.
See this link...

Democrats send out first round of subpoenas

and if you haven't seen this.....

U.S. Attorney Massacre: It Just Gets Uglier

[MasonJar]

80. Resign, Alberto. We, the people, need an AG who can find time

for the people's questions. Get those supoenas flowing, guys and dolls!

[me b zola]

81. k&r

:mad:

[frogcycle]

82. isnt there something called Contempt of Congress?

can they have him arrested?

[sellitman]

83. We are watching the "Unraveling".

This is the beginning of the end for these miserable fascist bastards. They are coming apart at the seams. Grab a bag and watch folks. It's going to get real interesting from here on out.

[Raksha]

85. Doesn't this officially put him in contempt of Congress?

And if he ignores the subpoena, isn't that an impeachable offense?

This is just unbelievable arrogance--the fucktard is trying to claim he's "too busy"? That's just raising his middle finger to Congress, and going on record with it this time.

I don't think Congress can afford to ignore this kind of a blatant insult. They have a lot on their plate right now, but they'd better NOT be "too busy" to impeach this arrogant SOB!

[Catherine Vincent]

87. What an uppity asshole! n/t

[Mr. Ected]

88. Expect A Non-Binding Plea For Cooperation Statement From Democratic Leadership

Anytime after mid-March.

[progressoid]

89. subpoenas...sounds like a lot of legal mumbo jumbo to me.

Why would the Attorney General want to bother himself with all of those legalities?

[symbolman]

90. If he cannot fullfill the obligations of the Attorney General

Then I think it's time he STEPPED DOWN.

That would be MY ANSWER to him if I was a Congress critter.

IMPEACH THAT SON OF A BITCH for disobeying his Oath. :)