by Deb Cupples | A bit of background: in 2007, ex-Deputy Attorney General James Comey testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that in
2004, after Comey refused to re-authorize the Bush Administration's 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 an extremely groggy Ashcroft to "to overrule Comey's decision" (The Hill).
In 2005, Gonzales became U.S. Attorney General. In 2007, Gonzales resigned amid the growing scandal over the possibly political firing of nine U.S. Attorneys. Since his resignation, Gonzales has been the target of multiple investigations, including one focusing on whether he'd lied to Congress.
These Justice Department investigations of Gonzales could lead to criminal charges against him and other Bush Administration officials -- though, that's not likely, given that another loyal Bush appointee (Michael Mukasey) now runs the Justice Department.
A recent article in The Atlantic has updated news on Gonzales' 2004 visit to bully John Ashcroft as he recovered from surgery:
"Gonzales is now saying that George Bush personally directed him to make that hospital visit...."
"Gonzales has also told Justice Department investigators that President Bush played a more central and active role than was previously known in devising a strategy to have Congress enable the continuation of the surveillance program when questions about its legality were raised by the Justice Department, as well as devising other ways to circumvent the Justice Department’s legal concerns about the program, according to people who have read Gonzales’s interviews with investigators."
Gonzales' recent "singing" seems strange, given his record of staunch loyalty to President Bush. Mr. Bush had appointed Gonzales to the Texas Supreme Court when Bush was governor, and he brought Gonzales to Washington after becoming U.S. President.
Speculations abound regarding Gonzales' motives, including the following:
"Dan Richman, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan and professor at Columbia Law School, told me that Gonzales appears to be attempting to walk the thin line of taking himself out of harm’s way while at the same time protecting the president, a strategy that very well could work....
"According to Richman, by invoking Bush’s name and authority, Gonzales and his legal team are making it more difficult for investigators to seek a criminal investigation of his actions, or for other investigators to later bring criminal charges against him.... At the same time, by saying that he is advising the president, Gonzales also makes it easier for those at the White House to claim executive privilege if they do indeed become embroiled in the probe.
"Moreover, according to one senior Justice Department official, Gonzales, his legal team, and the White House also know that Justice’s IG and OPR are unlikely to press senior White House officials, let alone the president, to answer their questions." (The Atlantic)
Of course the Justice Department's internal offices (IG and OPR) are "unlikely to press" White House officials: President Bush appointed Mukasey, the current top dog at Justice.
And since when does the White House need help (or even a solid legal basis) to assert an executive-privilege claim?
Over the last year, it's been apparent that when the White House doesn't feel like answering questions, it simply doesn't. When the White House feel like complying with a subpoena, it simply doesn't.
"Executive privilege" is just a neat-sounding phrase that White House spokespeople throw at the media as part of the spin.
Anyway, the Atlantic Article, by Murray Waas, is detailed and definitely worth reading.
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