At yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) flat out told Attorney General Alberto Gonzales:
"I do not find your testimony credible.... The committee's going to review your testimony very carefully to see if your credibility has been breached to the point of being actionable" (Washington Post).
That was about as bluntly as my late great-aunt would be after she had too much Grand Marnier. Specter is the Committee's ranking Republican.
In May, former Deputy Attorney General James Comey testified that in 2004, after he refused to re-authorize a warrantless wiretapping program due to possible illegality, then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales went to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft's post-surgery hospital room to pressure Ashcroft to "to overrule Comey's decision" (The Hill). Comey felt the Gonzales was trying "to take advantage of a very sick man" ( video of Comey's testimony).
At yesterday's hearing, Gonzales did admit to going to the hospital but denied having sought to pressure the groggy, pain-stricken patient (see testimony transcript). My mind reading skills are still up north for the summer, so I don't know whether he told the truth.
Gonzales also claimed yesterday that he'd gone to the hospital because during an emergency meeting earlier that 2004 day, he had received the go-ahead from Congressional leaders to re-authorize the wiretapping program.
Senator Jay Rockefeller said of Gonzales' claim yesterday: "He once again is making something up to protect himself" (WaPo).
Blogger Rebecca Hartong colorfully expressed frustration with Gonzales's repeated failure to paint clear pictures of Justice Department issues (below):
"It’s a good thing I’m not a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee because I don’t know that I’d be able to stop myself from diving over the table and choking the living shit out of Alberto Gonzales. I’ve got a happy little fantasy. In it, I’ve my hands around Gonzales’s neck and I’m smacking his head against the table over and over while screaming, 'Answer the fucking question! Answer the fucking question! '"
Columnist Dana Milbank summed it up this way:
"White House officials are vying to be the first person held in "contempt of Congress" for refusing to cooperate with probes of the Bush administration. Turns out the contempt is mutual"
"After four hours of questioning Attorney General Alberto Gonzales yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee didn't even require a vote to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Congress is in contempt of Gonzales" (WaPo).
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