Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Oh That Alberto!

He knew nothing. Washington Post (07.10.07):
"As he sought to renew the USA Patriot Act two years ago, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales assured lawmakers that the FBI had not abused its potent new terrorism-fighting powers. 'There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse,' Gonzales told senators on April 27, 2005.

Six days earlier, the FBI sent Gonzales a copy of a report that said its agents had obtained personal information that they were not entitled to have."

Gonzales Was Told of FBI Violations

"It was one of at least half a dozen reports of legal or procedural violations that Gonzales received in the three months before he made his statement to the Senate intelligence committee, according to internal FBI documents released under the Freedom of Information Act."

"The acts recounted in the FBI reports included unauthorized surveillance, an illegal property search and a case in which an Internet firm improperly turned over a compact disc with data that the FBI was not entitled to collect, the documents show. Gonzales was copied on each report that said administrative rules or laws protecting civil liberties and privacy had been violated."

"The reports also alerted Gonzales in 2005 to problems with the FBI's use of an anti-terrorism tool known as a national security letter (NSL), well before the Justice Department's inspector general brought widespread abuse of the letters in 2004 and 2005 to light in a stinging report this past March."

Last March, the Inspector General for the Justice Department released an audit which found that there "were pervasive problems with the FBI's handling of NSLs and another investigative tool known as an exigent circumstances letter."

Alberto was shocked, just shocked. "'I was upset when I learned this, as was Director Mueller. To say that I am concerned about what has been revealed in this report would be an enormous understatement,' Gonzales said in a speech March 9, referring to FBI Director Robert S. Mueller.

The attorney general added that he believed back in 2005, before the Patriot Act was renewed, that there were no problems with NSLs. 'I've come to learn that I was wrong,' he said, making no mention of the FBI reports sent to him."

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just 'cause he had a copy of the reports doesn't mean he read them. I mean, the sun is pretty bright on the golf course. (Can we impeach them now? Huh? Can we?)
pt.

1:40 PM  
Blogger knobboy said...

Until Alberto, I never realized a person could totally lack any shred of dignity or self-respect.

He's a fuggin' psychopath.

3:01 PM  

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