It seems that once again the spotlight will be on Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, as Representative John Conyers and Senator Patrick Leahy will ask the Justice Department to investigate whether or not the Attorney General misled, lied, or otherwise acted improperly when testifying before Congress on the issue of the illegal wiretaps. This request came on the release of notes maintained by FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, pertaining to his meeting on March 12, 2004 with then Attorney General John Ashcroft.
The partially censored notes from FBI chief Robert S. Mueller, dated March 12, 2004, describe a distraught and feeble Attorney General John Ashcroft in his hospital room just moments after being visited by then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and Andy Card, the president's chief of staff at the time.
With the credibility of the nation’s top legal official already in question, is it no surprise that once again a cloud of suspicion and contradictions looms over the attorney generals testimony to Congress, regarding the illegal wiretap.
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Justice Department, said Thursday he wants an internal investigation into whether Gonzales lied to or deliberately misled Congress about the 2004 dispute and its cause.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., also asked the Justice Department's inspector general, Glenn A. Fine, to examine whether Gonzales gave inaccurate sworn testimony about the firings of nine U.S. attorneys last year.
Due to the inconsistencies in the testimony, the head of the Judiciary Committee is seeking to have those in the Justice Department (JD) investigate their own boss. This now raises the question of how impartial this investigation will be, if it even occurs. What will be next, should the JD find that Gonzalez indeed acted inappropriately, especially with his involvement in the wiretapping? Unfortunately, my gut tells me…nothing will happen except, perhaps, another dog and pony show in the way of congressional testimony.
We can look at previous hearings and events to see the outcome of this issue. Congress has provided the citizens of the United States with a series of dog and pony shows which have done nothing but allowed those testifying to, at the minimum, avoid or skirt the truth with no repercussions. Given the fact that we are witnessing a Democrat majority Congress who is reluctant to do anything other then put on the dog and pony shows; a Republican minority hell bent on obstructing any attempt to hold the administration accountable for their actions; and an Administration who hides behind executive privilege to stifle the investigative process, there is substantial doubt that this current revelation on Gonzales will do anything other then be a flash in the pan.
Failure to do anything regarding these inconsistencies has dire ramifications for this country and the very foundation it was built on. By not holding anyone accountable now, it establishes a dangerous precedence, telling future officials that it is okay to ignore the Constitutional rights of the citizens who they work for and to ignore the check and balance system that was set in place to maintain our democracy. Even now we are currently straddling a precipice that was created by the erosion of basic rights and liberties under the Patriot Act, Patriot Act II, Military Commissions Act and the current eavesdropping act that gave the National Security Agency (and thus, the administration) complete, unchecked authority to listen into conversation without constitutional oversight.
We can only hope that our lawmakers will wake up and pull a bipartisan effort to restore the checks and balances and shore up the remains of our Constitution. However, given the events of the past, it’s highly doubtful.
Crossposted: On the Homefront
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