The ATTORNEY GENERAL of the United States of America...LIED to Congress. Is that NOT a crime?

[in_cog_ni_to]

Yeah, I OK'd the 8 firings, Gonzo says

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Saturday, March 31st 2007, 4:00 AM


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Alberto Gonzalez

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Attorney General Alberto Gonzales admitted yesterday he was briefed about plans to fire eight prosecutors and signed off on their dismissals, but he insisted again he knew next to nothing about it.

"I don't recall being involved in deliberations involving the question whether or not a United States attorney should or should not be asked to resign," Gonzales insisted at a Boston news conference.

Asked whether he would resign, Gonzales said, "I am focused on doing my job."

Gonzales, however, admitted he was briefed periodically and signed off on the final list of dismissed prosecutors.

He had previously said he was not involved in the firings, but changed his comments after ex-chief of staff Kyle Sampson told Congress on Thursday that Gonzales had been kept in the loop.

In the latest shot to weaken Gonzales, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) told a Hartford TV station yesterday, "I think it's time for Attorney General Gonzales to really look into his own heart and soul, as tough as it is, and ask whether he should continue in this job."



http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/2007/03/31/2007-03-31_yeah_i_okd_the_8_firings_gonzo_says-1.html



Gonzo met 5 times on prosecutors - aide

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Saturday, March 31st 2007, 1:48 AM


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WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales met five times about firing Bush-appointed prosecutors and okayed the final list with ex-White House counsel Harriet Miers, a top aide testified yesterday.

"The decision-makers in this case were the attorney general and the counsel to the President," former Justice Department chief of staff Kyle Sampson told a Senate committee.

Sampson said Gonzales attended "at least five" meetings to hash out which of the U.S. attorneys got sacked, contradicting Gonzales' March 13 statement that, "I never saw a document. We never had a discussion about where things stood."

"I don't think the attorney general's statement that he was not involved ... is accurate," said Sampson, who quit on that day.

Sampson's no-nonsense answers under oath impressed even President Bush's most reliable allies.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said he was "disappointed" Gonzales did not remember a key Nov. 27 meeting in which documents show he approved the list of prosecutors to be fired. "I don't think it was a small matter," Sessions said.

emphasis added is mine.


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/2007/03/30/2007-03-30_gonzo_met_5_times_on_prosecutors__aide.html

I suppose Jeff Sessions will be calling for Gonzo's resignation upon his return to DC on the 16th.:eyes:

[TroglodyteScholar]

1. Yes, it's illegal! I'm sure the DoJ is getting right on top of that! n/t

[Lars39]

2. Ha! Gonzo's wearing the official Republican "I am so screwn" look.

:D

[MoonRiver]

6. We wiped that damned smirk off his face!

Hey, it's a start! :thumbsup:

[rodeodance]

3. oh now now-----He has not esplained himself yet. (at a hearing)

[PCIntern]

4. No, that's not a crime...

that's an error in judgement which is worth a semi-apology...on alternate Shrove Tuesdays. Maybe. It can happen...only to Republicans of course. If a Democrat breaks wind outside the Capitol Building, then an investigation is in order.

Rmember John Belushi's lines from The Blues Brothers? "...my car wouldn't start, there was an earthquake, a flood, locusts descended..." or words to that effect. This is how Republican lies are allowed: it's not my fault!!!

[Robbien]

5. What, Gonzo is going to put himself behind bars?

There have been so many criminal acts brought to light in all the recent congressional investigations, but we need a justice system to be able to prosecute the suspect criminals.

[4dsc]

7. Will democrat's cave is the question

while no crime was committed because they didn't have him under oath,this will be swept under the rugs after it runs its course.. Like so many other things that have occurred during this administration..

[in_cog_ni_to]

9. It's ILLEGAL to lie to Congress whether you are under oath or not.

At least THAT is the excuse repukes used for not swearing in anyone when they held hearings. It's already ILLEGAL TO LIE TO CONGRESS. Gonzales took an OATH when he was sworn in as AG.


"I (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and
defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies,
foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to
the same; that I take this obligation freely without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully
discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So
help me God."


The fuss over whether Gonzales should testify under oath seemed to be about the possibility, at least in Specter's mind, that the attorney general was about to say something that could get him into trouble for lying. Gonzales had been sworn in when he testified twice before, as have other Department of Justice officials. Today, though, Specter said such an oath was "unwarranted" (though Gonzales had agreed to take it). Specter cited the federal-code provisions for perjury and for making a false statement to Congress, mentioned the prosecutions of Oliver North and Adm. John Poindexter, and alluded to accusations that Gonzales had made past statements to the Senate, during his confirmation hearing, that are at odds with his defense of the president's authorization of the NSA wiretaps. (At his confirmation hearing, Gonzales demurred when he was asked by Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., whether the president had ever invoked his authority "to conclude that a law was unconstitutional, and refused to comply with it." Gonzales would have known because at the time, he was White House counsel.)


http://slate.msn.com/id/2135556/

[wtmusic]

10. Just shows to go you

enforcement is 100% of the law.

[in_cog_ni_to]

11. BINGO. How do we hold these people accountable? THEY are suppose to ENFORCE the laws of our land!

:grr:

[tanyev]

8. Gonzo's singing this chorus of the Cell Block Tango:

They had it coming
They had it coming
They had it coming all along
I didn't do it
But if I'd done it
How could you tell me that I was wrong?