Update :: 12:00 pm :: Glenn Greenwald has detailed information [
] on this issue as well as a link to another letter to Gone-zales from Senators Feingold, Kennedy and Durbin.
Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold On the National Journal Report that the Attorney General Advised the President to Shut Down the OPR Investigation of the NSA Program []
Congress and the American public deserve to know whether the Attorney General of the United States acted ethically and appropriately. The President should immediately issue the clearances needed to permit the Office of Professional Responsibility’s NSA investigation to proceed, regardless of whether the Attorney General himself is a target. That investigation should also consider whether the Attorney General conducted himself properly in making his recommendation to the President. Obviously, the Attorney General must recuse himself from any further involvement in this matter.
Feingold, Kennedy and Durbin ask the A.G. in their letter ::
- When did you learn that you were the target of the OPR Investigation?
- Who advised you that you were the target of the OPR Investigation?
- Did you inform President Bush that you were the target of the OPR Investigation?
The Gavel
Chairman Conyers Writes to Attorney General Gonzales []
Conyers Demands More Answers from Attorney General Gonzales
(Washington, DC)- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales demanding he answer allegations that he may have advised the President to shut down an Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) inquiry into the Administration's domestic wiretapping surveillance program because of his role in the program.
An article posted in today's online version of the National Journal alleges that Gonzales anticipated the inquiry would focus on his role in the wire-tapping project so he advised the President to end it by denying necessary security clearances to investigators.
"It would be an extraordinary abuse of authority if you advised the President on this matter after learning that your own conduct was to be investigated," Conyers wrote. "The decision by the President to shut down the OPR investigation by denying security clearances to key Department personnel was itself extremely unusual, controversial and, in our view, improper. But the issue of your role in advising the President on this question raises what may be even more serious concerns."
EXCLUSIVE: E-Mails Show Rove's Role in U.S. Attorney Firings []
The e-mails also show that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales discussed the idea of firing the attorneys en masse while he was still White House counsel, weeks before he was confirmed as attorney general.
The e-mails directly contradict White House assertions that the notion originated with recently departed White House counsel Harriet Miers, and was her idea alone.
Two independent sources in a position to know have described the contents of the e-mail exchange, which could be released as early as Friday. They put Rove at the epicenter of the imbroglio and raise questions about Gonzales’ explanations of the matter.
Congresswoman Linda Sánchez, Chairwoman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, also comments:
"These emails, if the reports are accurate, are the clearest evidence that the Bush Administration has been lying to the public, the Congress, and perhaps even among its own ranks, about its scheme to purge federal prosecutors. This would be a deliberate attempt to place partisan ideology at the center of the justice system in a way not seen since the Watergate scandal.
"It is time for the Bush Administration to come clean. Who made the decision to fire these U.S. Attorneys, why did they do it, and who orchestrated the attempts to mislead the public on this issue?"
Matic
Goat
BabelFish
ahoo
