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Ear to the Ground

Gonzales: Bush Personally Blocked DOJ Probe of Spy Program

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Posted on Jul 18, 2006
Alberto Gonzales
From ThinkProgress

Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales

Testifying before Congress this morning, Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales said that Bush halted the investigation into the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program by personally denying security clearances to Department of Justice lawyers investigating the case. (article or video)

  • Pardon us for being reflexively cynical about Bush’s motives in this one, but the president doesn’t have a shred of credibility on this issue.

  • Think Progress:

    Earlier this year, the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), which is charged with investigating attorney misconduct, announced that it could not pursue an investigation into the role of Justice lawyers in crafting the NSA warrantless wiretapping program because it was denied security clearance.

    Previously, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would not explain why the security clearances had been denied, saying he did not want to “get into internal discussions.” But in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning, Gonzales said President Bush personally blocked Justice Department lawyers from pursuing an investigation of the warrantless eavesdropping program. Watch it.

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    By brett@imbrettjackson.com, July 19, 2006 at 10:30 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Abraham Lincoln said it best in today’s podcast when he said:

    Bush: “I did such a great job at G8 this year I thought I deserved a treat - so I made myself emperor of the world.”

    Episode 81 of (www) theabrahamlincolnlogs (.com)

    Report this

    By Anagrysis, July 19, 2006 at 9:26 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Now imagine if a Democrat had done this…

    Report this

    By jerry-va, July 19, 2006 at 4:25 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    What are they hiding?  It’s not hard for any nerd to figure out what NSA is doing. 

    http://wiretapfacts.notlong.com

    Report this

    By N Z, July 18, 2006 at 7:10 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Brian makes a good point. Personally, I beleive the fact that there won’t even be a blip on American public’s radar is much worse than the fact that the president is actually doing these things.

    A nation’s leader is just as good, as ethical, and as just, as its citizen demands him to be. Isn’t that what we’ve learned from the history of modern civilization?

    Thoughtful, vigilent, and just citizens make a nation a great nation. Citizens who guard their own ideals, identity and liberties just as strongly and proudly from over-zealous and secretive leaders, as they guard their borders and other national assets from terrorist.

    Report this

    By Brian C2, July 18, 2006 at 5:32 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    This administration has lowered the bar so much on ethical conduct that this won’t even make a blip on the American public’s radar. After getting away with breaking international arms treaties, manipulating intelligence, exposing a CIA operative for political revenge, starting a pre-emptive war, conducting extraordinary renditions, torturing prisoners, illegally spying on its own citizens and ignoring the Geneva Conventions, do you really think anyone will care about this?

    Report this

    By John U., July 18, 2006 at 12:51 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Wow....the most amazing thing about this article is that not only did Alberto ‘torture memo’ Gonzalez crawl out of his hole, but he actually SAID something for the first time......that his boss is shiftless and untrustworthy!

    Report this

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