Gonzales: Bush Personally Blocked DOJ Probe of Spy Program
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.
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)
WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...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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For a company whose governing motto has been "Don’t be evil," this move seems to confirm some of the worst fears of privacy and Internet rights activists.
In a scathing editorial, the Gray Lady says Barack Obama's presidency, which once promised unprecedented transparency, is instead "proving the truism that the executive will use any power it is given and very likely abuse it."
In cities across the country, the government is installing sophisticated audio surveillance equipment on public transit to listen in on passengers.
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case against the nation's telecommunications companies for cooperating with a once-secret wiretap program enacted by the Bush administration to monitor suspected terrorists.
You know a legislative compromise is one-sided when the AP headline announcing its passage reads "Senate Bows to Bush." Democratic advocates of the new FISA bill, passed by the Senate on Wednesday, are still trying to explain what they got in exchange for rolling back a few civil liberties and burying some of the president's abuses. When they figure it out, someone, somewhere, will surely be listening.
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