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Liar Liar

Posted on Jul 27, 2007

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has once again been caught in a lie, or, to be charitable, an unfortunate incongruity. Testifying before Congress, FBI Director Robert Mueller twice contradicted Gonzales’ sworn testimony, lending credence to the testimony of former Deputy Attorney General James Comey, who also disagreed with Gonzales’ version of the facts.

The White House has tried to dismiss congressional criticism of Gonzales’ testimony as political chicanery, but Democrats are demanding an investigation by a special prosecutor.

Los Angeles Times:

The director of the FBI told a congressional committee Thursday that he had had reservations about the Bush administration’s terrorism surveillance program—a statement that appears to contradict sworn testimony last year by Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales that the warrantless eavesdropping had generated no serious disagreement among high-level officials.

Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee, Robert S. Mueller III also undercut statements Gonzales offered this week to lawmakers about a controversial hospital visit to the bedside of then-Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft in March 2004.

Mueller’s disclosures come amid what until now has been a highly partisan debate on Capitol Hill over Gonzales’ tenure at the Justice Department and his reputation for honesty.

Read more

TAGS: comey democrats fbi lies mueller scandal testimony

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By Ga, July 30, 2007 at 11:52 am #
(178 comments total)

Alberto Gonzales isn’t a liar. He only hid the truth.

What does then, the phrase “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” mean to America?

Nothing, apparently. Nothing at all.

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By cyrena, July 30, 2007 at 12:50 am #
(4167 comments total)

#90569 by THOMAS BILLIS on 7/29 at 3:28 am

• ….”How would you like to walk into court with Alberto Gonzales as your attorney?He actually gives a profession that has a bad name a bad name.What kind of a judicial system do they have in Texas where Harriet Meiers and Alberto Gonzales can be the stars.Is Judge Roy Bean still presiding there?”….

Well Thomas, you bring up some scary stuff. But, just as a piece of trivia, Gonzo has NEVER participated in a court trial. EVER….not in his entire “lawyer” career. He has never tried a case before a jury, in a court of law, despite the fact that he was appointed as the State Supreme Court Justice in Texas, under the Shrub’s reign there.

And, it is the likes of people like him/them, that give the legal profession a bad name. In reality, most legal professionals are pretty passionate about upholding the law, and are committed to the Constitution, and to the concept of Justice. It has always pained me to realize that it seems to be the “crooks” who gain a reputation for the entire field, because it is so foundational to our entire society.

I would also like to point out, that Texas is a nation unto it’s own, in so far as the legal set-up goes. There is in fact a joke in the communities of legal scholars, that all “bad law” originates in Texas. That is probably a slight exaggeration, since the occasional stupid or negative law pops up in other areas as well. But, overall, it’s a pretty valid assessment.

In other words, I don’t think Gonzo could ever have become a Supreme in any other state, and probably not even in Texas, before the Shrubs took it over. Same thing with Harriet Miers. Only in Texas. And yep, the bastard Roy is probably still around, and “judging”. What can I say? It’s not entirely unlike Mississippi or Alabama, or any of the other neighboring states as they existed back in the pre-Civil Rights Movement, which has never removed them entirely. The Shurb’s regime has certainly not promoted “progress” in this area. Cronyism rules.

BUT…even Texas has it’s spots of blue, (Austin) and it’s patriots….Molly Ivins, whom we miss. And, scattered about, there are others. (It’s still a 3rd world country though):).

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By THOMAS BILLIS, July 29, 2007 at 3:28 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

How would you like to walk into court with Alberto Gonzales as your attorney?He actually gives a profession that has a bad name a bad name.What kind of a judicial system do they have in Texas where Harriet Meiers and Alberto Gonzales can be the stars.Is Judge Roy Bean still presiding there.Gonzales held the lives of convicted men sentenced to death in his forgetful lying hands.Boy it does not hurt to be in possession of the information they manipulated when George Bush was getting ready to run for the Presidency.To Gonzales reading of the quaint Constitution he probably does not think he has done anything wrong.Boys and girls when this crew leaves office we are going to find out things that are going to curl your hair.That is if a democrat is elected if it is a republican they will try to name an airport after him.

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By Lefty, July 28, 2007 at 6:05 pm #
(952 comments total)

OFF WITH HIS HEAD!

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By cyrena, July 28, 2007 at 3:08 pm #
(4167 comments total)

#90386 by ardee on 7/28 at 9:04 am

Ardee, quoting you here:

There is a very good reason that Justice is deliberate yet inexorable, and I will not be shaken from my belief in the ultimate punishments being meted out here. These guys are just too damn stupid to escape!

I dunno Ardee, because in cases of “Justice”, it’s not always and/or even necessarily “satisfied” by ultimate punishments, since even Punishments, are in the eyes of the beholder.

I actually see a very good chance that ALL of these criminals will disappear into the sunsets of South America, (george) the msyterious and RICH lands of the Middle Eastern shores and deserts, (cheney) and the beautiful Pacific sunsets of the California Bays, (Condi and Pelosi) and who knows where all of the others might aleady have their escape routes and destinations planned. All I know is that these off-shore accounts have been overwhelmingly nested, and all stand ready and waiting, for when the operation ends.

And...THAT, would probably be the BEST outcome. (considering the alternatives). Maybe the best we can hope for, is that they don’t set us all on fire as they make their get-away.

I just don’t see Justice or punishment in the future. I’d settle for them to just --- BE GONE!!!

So, the message is still the same. IMPEACH them all, and do it today!! We must do unto them, before they have a chance to finish UNDOING the rest of us.

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By Dan McClenaghan, July 28, 2007 at 1:21 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

I agree with RAGE. The Attorney General should be torutured. It’s the only way to get the truth out of him. Let’s give him the same treatment we gave all those shop keepers and cab drivers we rounded up and threw in Abu.

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By ChicagoGuy, July 28, 2007 at 12:05 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

This is so sickening when the Justice Dept., which should be above reproach, is doing nothing but spewing lies. How can any “honest” politician allow the likes of Gonzales to head the Justice Dept.? This current administration is just plain rotten to the core. IMPEACH! IMPEACH! IMPEACH! Get rid of the entire lot.

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By Don Stivers, July 28, 2007 at 9:57 am #
(137 comments total)

To impeach.

Kick Nancy impeachment is off the table Pelosi out of office by voting for Cindy Sheehan to replace her.

Let’s bring our soldiers home NOW! Not tomorrow. Now! Every day means more will die in vain.

I’m a California Republican who supported Nancy Pelosi thinking justice would come. Now? Vote for Cindy!

Then one would hope this jack ass of a A.G. would be drug out of office.

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By ardee, July 28, 2007 at 9:04 am #
(459 comments total)

The wheels of Justice grind exceedingly slowly, but exceedingly fine.

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By sharon ash, July 28, 2007 at 8:15 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

No one with integrity or intelligence would agree to be associated with this administration. Gonzales is simply less clever than most of the thugs and crooks in this group and so he keeps slipping up and refuting his own words. We may be able to hang on as a country until this mess is out of our government but it will take many years to sort it all out and ever know exactly who stole what and how much. This administration is a huge black eye on the United States!

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By Margaret Currey, July 28, 2007 at 8:04 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Why not Impeach Gonzales, Bush, Chaney and Rice.

This president should be Impeached for taking Chaney’s advice and going to war. Of course this administration wanted to go to war anyway, if not what would this president accomplish?

The Impeachment word should be on everyones lips.

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By cyrena, July 28, 2007 at 3:25 am #
(4167 comments total)

We’ve got some additional “new language” here. Lying is no longer lying. The JD aides have agreed that gonzo has “caused confusion” by his -LINGUISTIC PARSING- and so the next step is to find somebody to figure out if any of this ‘linguistic parsing’ could have been outright LYIN’ and DENYIN’ old-fashioned style; perjury and obstruction, and related crimes.

• “After Mr. Gonzales’s most recent testimony on Tuesday, Justice Department aides acknowledged in a background briefing for reporters that the attorney general had caused confusion by his “linguistic parsing.” A special counsel, if one is named, would presumably try to determine if any of Mr. Gonzales’s ambiguous statements were outright lies.”

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/072607S.shtml

Here’s more. We’re definitely well into the coup that began 7 years ago, when this cabal first high-jacked our Republic.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/072707C.shtml

It’s scary.

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By cyrena, July 27, 2007 at 9:39 pm #
(4167 comments total)

I ditto rage.

There’s also the issue that Ernest brought up on another thread, that has been on my mind for some years now…

ALL of these guys can be tried (and most likely convicted) in the international courts, for crimes against humanity. MANY of them.

I’m sure that SOMEBODY in this crowd, (the Cabal) must know that, even if it isn’t gonzo.(although he probably knows it as well.)

That leaves it up to us, to just get on with the impeachment process. They ALL have to go. Gonzo has already made clear he’s not gonna do it any more willingly than the rest of them.

Time to get to it. (although I still like Rage’s plan for him...just so we keep him alive long enough to appear before the ICC.)

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By rage, July 27, 2007 at 6:58 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Administration43 will never permit Gonzo’s being brought to justice, though there is absolutely no question of his guilt. So far, we can’t trust this lying cretan to tell us the sun is shining on a sunny day. Gonzo is a pathological liar. I doubt that he has any history of ever telling the truth about anything. It’s really stunning that this guy is supported by the family values and law-n-order cronies. The thing is Shrubya is never going to permit Gonzo to be tried for his flagrant obstruction and willful obsfuscation of justice, no matter what lies he tells or to whom he tells them. So, that leaves America only one way to thin this rascal from the juris prudential herd - EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION GITMO STYLE!

I can’t think of a more fitting recipient of extraordinary rendition than the man who so voraciously supports torture, and who once had the temerity and presumption to claim that the Geneva Conventions, those revered international edicts defining the humane treatment and the human rights for captives and prisoners, had become quaint and obsolete. We could satisfy Dumya’s desire to have neither a trial nor an investigation. And, American tax dollars would not need to be squandered on legal fees for providing this undeserving lout and dangerous enema combatant with legal representation. We can gingerly shove Gonzo through the same repugnant kangaroo courts through which he processed Jose Padilla, shackeled, blindfolded, and earmuffed. After that, we can torture Gonzo until he swears that was him on the grassy knoll behind that picket fence whom Lee Bauers saw with the rifle on the 22nd of November 1963. With his screamed confession, we can convict him of capital murder two hours before his execution.

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By Terry, July 27, 2007 at 6:57 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

As our Highest law officer, in the UK, once replied in a spying case, after the judge told him he was lying, he wasn’t lying, but being economical with the truth, well that may be the case, but Gonzo, is a pathological lier, and so is his boss, and everyone around them, they all need serious clinical help.

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By QuyTran, July 27, 2007 at 5:56 pm #
(843 comments total)

Alberto Gonzales isn’t a liar. He only hid the truth.

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By Pablo, July 27, 2007 at 3:46 pm #
(18 comments total)

Let’s all hope that the internicene quibbling by the senate panel regarding perjury by the AG is a mere tactic of an overall strategy to go after the reasons behind the coverups: Torture and warrantless domestic spying.

I for one am deeply saddened that there are political expediency rationalizations given for comissions of acts of evil. Evil in that attempting to codify torture, that there are certain inalienable rights which trump the power of any government; and to which there is an absolute personal duty to repudiate.

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