Alberto Gonzales Won't Be Charged Over Eavesdropping Testimony

By GottaLaff

Bush made me do it! It's his fault. I just followed orders:

Alberto Gonzales, pilloried for allegedly misleading Congress about the Bush administration’s warrantless eavesdropping program, has been exonerated — sort of. According to public records and interviews with federal law-enforcement officials, the Justice Department has concluded that there’s insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against the former attorney general.

However....

Gonzales also remains under investigation by the Justice Department for matters connected to the wiretaps and the firings, thought to be politically motivated, of nine U.S. attorneys — scandal aplenty.

Better that it be prison time aplenty.

So why skating so easy for someone who consistently trips over his own tongue and falls on his face?

A major reason he escaped criminal charges [...] : that many of his most controversial decisions (first as White House counsel, and later, as attorney general) in authorizing, overseeing, and concealing the eavesdropping program were done at the specific direction of the former president. In other instances, Gonzales and his attorneys argued that his actions were done in furtherance of the Bush administration’s policies — meaning, for what it’s worth, that he did not act with personal intent to do wrong.

Well, as long as his intentions were good...

Isn't that a little like saying you were told to rob a bank to give to the poor? Robin Hood would be proud. And Boy Georgie is snickering. Heh-heh-heh.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
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(Jon Stewart's impression of Bush's laugh at 3:14)

Gonzales remains under investigation by the Justice Department he once led for two matters: the firings of those nine U. S. attorneys, and — this should sound familiar — whether Gonzales and other government attorneys acted properly in authorizing and overseeing the eavesdropping program.

Our legal system needs a legal system.

More of Murray Waas' piece here.

H/t: Alan Colmes

Dep't. of So What Else is New: Alberto Gonzales flip flops on torture investigation

By GottaLaff

Gonzo, August 31, 2009 (posted here yesterday):

Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales on Tuesday defended the decision of his current successor, Eric H. Holder Jr., to investigate alleged prisoner abuse by CIA interrogators over President Obama's desire to look forward.

"As chief prosecutor of the United States, he should make the decision on his own, based on the facts, then inform the White House," said Mr. Gonzales, who was appointed to the post by President George W. Bush in 2005 and resigned in 2007. [...]

"Anyone who politicizes... the interrogations... should be condemned..." he said, unwittingly condemning himself and his fellow thugs.

The Washington Times America's Morning News (interview with Alberto Gonzales)

Gonzo today:

In a new interview with the Washington Times, he said that just because he thinks it’s “legitimate to question and examine” the interrogators’ conduct, he doesn’t endorse an investigation:

I don’t support the investigation by the department because this is a matter that has already been reviewed thoroughly and because I believe that another investigation is going to harm our intelligence gathering capabilities and that’s a concern that’s shared by career intelligence officials and so for those reasons I respectfully disagree with the decision.

He probably just didn't "recall" his previous-- recorded-- statments.

AUDIO: Gonzales defends Holder's decision on CIA

By GottaLaff

The Washington Times has this exclusive... probably because nobody else wanted to listen to Gonzo:

Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales on Tuesday defended the decision of his current successor, Eric H. Holder Jr., to investigate alleged prisoner abuse by CIA interrogators over President Obama's desire to look forward.

"As chief prosecutor of the United States, he should make the decision on his own, based on the facts, then inform the White House," said Mr. Gonzales, who was appointed to the post by President George W. Bush in 2005 and resigned in 2007.

Of course he also said BushCo lawyers clearly defined which "interrogation techniques" were legal. You know why they did that, Gonzo? Because they rewrote the law so that they could legalize torture.

Maybe he agrees with Holder because the narrow parameters of the investigation would let him off the hook for his own involvement. Paddy and I are scratching our heads a little over this one.

"Anyone who politicizes... the interrogations... should be condemned..." he said, unwittingly condemning himself and his fellow thugs.

I need a drink. Here's the entire interview:

The Washington Times America's Morning News (interview with Alberto Gonzales)

Alberto Gonzales Regrets Enemy Detainee Memo

By GottaLaff

Think his fingers were crossed when he apologized?

Well, heck, as long as he's sorry, let's just shake hands and put all that torture behind us:

Alberto Gonzales expresses regret over a memo he wrote defending the harsh treatment of enemy detainees. Some argue that the 2002 memo cleared the way for prisoner abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The former U.S. attorney general said he shouldn't have used the words "quaint" and "the Geneva Conventions" in the same sentence.

I shouldn't use the words Gonzo and dick in the same sentence either, but I am, and without a hint of regret.

Hey Alberto, the word "quaint" isn't the only thing you should be apologizing for. Not by a long shot.

What you should apologize for is only touched upon below. It's also what you should be imprisoned for:

All my previous posts on this subject matter can be found here; That link includes one specific to only Fayiz al-Kandari's story here. Here are audio and video interviews with Lt. Col. Wingard, one by David Shuster, one by Ana Marie Cox, and more. My guest commentary at BuzzFlash is here.

If you are inclined to help rectify these injustices: Twitterers, use the hashtag #FreeFayiz. We have organized a team to get these stories out. If you are interested in helping Fayiz out, e-mail me at The Political Carnival, address in sidebar to the right; or tweet me at @GottaLaff.

If you'd like to see other ways you can take action, go here and scroll down to the end of the article.

Then read Jane Mayer's book The Dark Side. You'll have a much greater understanding of why I post endlessly about this, and why I'm all over the CIA deception issues, too.

More of Fayiz's story here, at Answers.com.

Whine and cheesy: Alberto Gonzales ‘angry’ his reputation is tarnished

By GottaLaff

Here's an idea, Gonzo: Take some responsibility for the well-deserved torrent of ridicule and insults you receive on a regular basis:

The New York Times Magazine has a new interview with former Bush attorney general Alberto Gonzales [...] Gonzales said that he has been upset at the way his legacy has been ruined:

Would you agree that your reputation was damaged by your service as attorney general?

It has had an effect, a negative effect, no question about it, and at times it makes me angry because it is undeserved. But I don’t want to sound like I am whining. At the end of the day, I’ve been the attorney general of the United States. It’s a remarkable privilege, and I stand behind my service.

[...] “What is it that I did that is so fundamentally wrong, that deserves this kind of response to my service?” he asked last year. (Here’s a reminder.) Gonzales still has not received any offers for jobs from any law firms since leaving the White House.

Texas Tech professors oppose hiring Alberto Gonzales

By GottaLaff

Objection! Sustained:

After a long, desperate search, Alberto Gonzales has finally found a job.

The former attorney-general under President George W. Bush will soon be teaching "Contemporary Issues in the Executive Branch" at Texas Tech -- a job for which, at least 40 of the school's professors say, Gonzales is profoundly unqualified.

As of last count, 45 staffers at Texas Tech have signed a petition urging the school's chancellor to rescind the offer of a teaching job to Gonzales, reports the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

According to Texas Tech philosophy professor Walter Schaller, the primary reason for the petition against Gonzales is his record as attorney-general. [...]

"With the emphasis on ethics the university has adopted, a guy that misled Congress is not the kind of person we want to represent Texas Tech," Schaller told the Avalanche-Journal.

"It is unclear what Gonzales has done that makes him deserving of employment at Texas Tech. Does he have a noteworthy academic record? Does he have a record of publishing in law reviews? Was his service to his country particularly distinguished?," the petition reads.

The document goes on to list Gonzales "ethical failings," including: frequently misleading Congress and the American people; rejecting the Geneva Conventions; denying the constitutional right of habeas corpus; and showing more loyalty to President George W. Bush than to the Constitution.

The petition also objects to the process by which Gonzales was hired: Evidently, the Bush administration alum was hired directly by the school's chancellor, Kent Hance, whom the petition describes as a "good friend" of Gonzales.

Nepoteegery.

AUDIO: Alberto Gonzales would confirm Sotomayor. Gives one pause, doesn't it?

By GottaLaff



Gonzo says Judge Sotomayor's answers gave him comfort, which should give us discomfort (snerk):

On NPR today, another prominent Republican, former attorney general Alberto Gonzales, also endorsed Sotomayor’s confirmation.

::shudder::

Alberto Gonzales to teach at Texas Tech University

By GottaLaff

Small Man On Campus:

Alberto Gonzales, who resigned as the Bush administration’s embattled attorney general nearly two years ago, has lined up a fall-semester teaching spot at Texas Tech University, the university confirmed today.

What's he gonna teach, Amnesia 101?

I hope he remembers to show up for class.

Gonzales [...] will be working in the university’s political science department, teaching a “special topics” course ...

"Special topics": Perfect, since Gonzo is, erm, "special". Continuing...

...on contemporary issues in the executive branch, according to Dora Rodriguez, a senior business assistant in the department.

Again, perfect, since Gonzo most certainly had issues in the executive branch.

He also disputed reports he was having a hard time finding work...

Of course. He was just "between jobs". Continuing...

...saying he’s working as a consultant, giving speeches...

He can speak? Continuing...

...and doing arbitration work as a lawyer. He said then that his dream job would be baseball commissioner.

Once more, perfect, because if there's one thing Gonzo needs is balls.

On second thought, maybe that was one thing he had too much of, to the detriment of our legal system.

VIDEO: CNN goes to, who else? Alberto Gonzalez, for opinion on Sotomayor

By GottaLaff

CNN: The most trusted name in news...



Those who lack credibility rely on those with even less credibility.

AUDIO-- Alberto Gonzales: "‘Empathy’ Means A Judge Saying 'I Don’t Care What The Law Says'"

By GottaLaff

Every time Gonzo opens his mushy little mouth, bubbles fly out:



Is there no end to the Rushpublic hypocrisy?

Appearing on NPR’s Tell Me More yesterday, Gonzales claimed that he is “worried” that judges with empathy would make “decisions based on what they think makes them feel good” [...]

Gonzales is not in a strong position to criticize others who supposedly “don’t care what the law says.” During his many years of service to President Bush, Gonzales earned a reputation for “dogged obedience to the President, which often has come at the cost of institutional independence and adherence to the rule of law.” While serving Bush, Gonzales advised him that the Geneva Conventions were “obsolete” and may have lied to Congress about the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program.

Pop! Bubbles burst. See you in prison.

How and why a Spanish judge might put BushCo lawyers on trial

By GottaLaff

I'm not giving up on the idea of prosecutions. I'm not giving up, I'm not giving up, I'm not giving up ::eyes shut tightly, clicks heels three times::

Times editorial writer Marjorie MillerMarjorie Miller asked British barrister and law professor Philippe Sands, author of the book "Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values," to explain the legal underpinnings of such a procedure.

The Spanish case targets the government lawyers -- including former Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales -- whose legal opinions laid the groundwork for so-called harsh interrogations. Why the lawyers?

When the administration decided to move to aggressive techniques, it seems they turned to lawyers who could be relied upon to sign on. They systematically excluded from the process those lawyers who would have given contrary advice. But for the lawyers, these abuses, this torture, would not have happened.

So the administration got bad advice from lawyers; they didn't have to take it. Why does that make the lawyers guilty?

The lawyers appear to have been part of a plan to subvert the law. First the administration fixed on a policy of cruelty, then they found the lawyers to sign off on it. On my reading, the lawyers acted not in the service of providing fearless, independent legal advice, but provided support to a predetermined policy of abuse. In that way, they became complicit in a policy of torture.

Is there legal precedent in going after the lawyers?

There is legal precedent. The precedent includes U.S. military tribunals in Germany in the 1940s. More recently, you've got actions in Britain, Spain and the United States where lawyers, for example, designed money-laundering schemes intended to subvert rules that criminalize money laundering. There are plenty of cases to show that, where lawyers act in a way to subvert the rules, they can themselves become complicit in crime.

Still, why not the torturers or the top political leaders?

I focused on the lawyers because I wanted to understand the circumstances in which they became complicit, but of course it goes even higher. As of April 29, the case in Spain has taken a broader and more extensive turn. Judge Baltasar Garzon will look at the Bush Six and all those individuals who bear responsibility for the policy of torture and abuse. The case will look not just at the "framers of the legal decision," as President Obama put it. It will look at those higher up and perhaps also those lower down who contributed to the implementation of the decision.

So BushCo fixed the memos around their policy. What does that remind us of, hmm?

More here.

Jane Harman Caught on Wiretap Promising to Intervene for AIPAC

Taegan boils it down, but Josh has more here. Let's see if the media gives this the scrutiny it deserves.

According to CQ Politics, Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) was overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel organization in Washington.

In return, the agent pledged to help lobby House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, which the Democrats were heavily favored to win.

Seemingly wary of what she had just agreed to, Harman hung up after saying, "This conversation doesn't exist."

Premature jubilation-- Spanish AG: No torture probe of US officials

By GottaLaff

Remember those indictments? Never mind. Premature jubilation:

Spain's attorney general has rejected opening an investigation into whether six Bush administration officials sanctioned torture against terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, saying Thursday a U.S. courtroom would be the proper forum.

Candido Conde-Pumpido's remarks severely dampen the chance of a case moving forward against the Americans, including former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Conde-Pumpido said such a trial would have turned Spain's National Court "into a plaything" to be used for political ends.

"If there is a reason to file a complaint against these people, it should be done before local courts with jurisdiction, in other words in the United States," he said in a breakfast meeting with journalists. [...]

Gonzalo Boye, one of the human rights lawyers who brought the case in Spain, said the decision by Conde-Pumpido was politically motivated and set a terrible course for Spanish justice.

"The attorney general speaks of the court being turned into a plaything. Well, I don't think the attorney general's office should be turned into a plaything for politicians," Boye told AP. "It is a terrible precedent if those intellectually responsible for crimes can no longer be held accountable."

In addition, it turns out that the U.S. talked to them... and then this happened. But wait:

The Spanish prosecutors advised the Americans that they would suspend their investigation if at any point the United States were to undertake an investigation of its own into these matters.

Could this mean a U.S. investigation is in the works? I'm looking for a silver lining here.

The Bush Six to Be Indicted

By GottaLaff

David G. emailed me an article from The Daily Beast. Wasn't that sweet? Especially considering the content, which goes back to my original post here.

Presenting... "Indict BushCo: The Sequel:

Spanish prosecutors will seek criminal charges against Alberto Gonzales and five high-ranking Bush administration officials for sanctioning torture at Guantánamo.

Spanish prosecutors have decided to press forward with a criminal investigation targeting former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and five top associates over their role in the torture of five Spanish citizens held at Guantánamo, several reliable sources close to the investigation have told The Daily Beast. Their decision is expected to be announced on Tuesday before the Spanish central criminal court, the Audencia Nacional, in Madrid. But the decision is likely to raise concerns with the human-rights community on other points: They will seek to have the case referred to a different judge.

The six defendants—in addition to Gonzales, Federal Appeals Court Judge and former Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, University of California law professor and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo, former Defense Department general counsel and current Chevron lawyer William J. Haynes II, Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff David Addington, and former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas J. Feith—are accused of having given the green light to the torture and mistreatment of prisoners held in U.S. detention in “the war on terror.” The case arises in the context of a pending proceeding before the court involving terrorism charges against five Spaniards formerly held at Guantánamo. [...]

But prosecutors will also ask that Judge Garzón, an internationally known figure due to his management of the case against former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and other high-profile cases, step aside. [...] Spanish prosecutors consider it “awkward” for the same judge to have both the case against former U.S. officials based on the possible torture of the five Spaniards at Guantánamo and the case against those very same Spaniards. A source close to the prosecution also noted that there was concern about the reaction to the case in some parts of the U.S. media, where it had been viewed, incorrectly, as a sort of personal frolic of Judge Garzón. Instead, the prosecutors will ask Garzón to transfer the case to Judge Ismail Moreno, who is currently handling an investigation into kidnapping charges surrounding the CIA’s use of facilities as a safe harbor in connection with the seizure of Khalid el-Masri, a German greengrocer who was seized and held at various CIA blacksites for about half a year as a result of mistaken identity. [...]

Announcement of the prosecutor’s decision was delayed until after the Easter holiday in order not to interfere with a series of meetings between President Barack Obama and Spanish Prime Minister José Zapatero. However, contrary to a claim contained in an editorial on April 8 in the Wall Street Journal, the Obama State Department has been in steady contact with the Spanish government about the case. [...] The Spanish prosecutors advised the Americans that they would suspend their investigation if at any point the United States were to undertake an investigation of its own into these matters. [...]

The reaction on American editorial pages is divided—some questioning sharply why the Obama administration is not conducting an investigation, which is implicitly the question raised by the Spanish prosecutors. Publications loyal to the Bush team argue that the Spanish investigation is an “intrusion” into American affairs, even when those affairs involve the torture of five Spaniards on Cuba. [...]

[T]he law of unintended consequences has kicked in. If U.S. courts and prosecutors will not address the matter because of a lack of jurisdiction, foreign courts appear only too happy to step in.

Pop quiz: Which two names are missing from the list? Hint: yenehC kciD, hsuB egroeG.

I can't wait for Part III.

Please go here to read the details I left out.

Ex-Cheney aide David Addington can't find work

By GottaLaff

On three: One, two, three--- Aw-w-w-w:

David S. Addington, a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney who was a forceful voice in internal legal debates, is also said to still be looking for work.

Hmmm, I seem to remember another stellar pillar of the BushCo crime family having unemployment issues. What was his name again? Fonzo? Bonzo? Oh yeah. Gonzo.

So David, Gonzo... how's that Bush economy/recession working out for you guys? Ever thought of becoming greeters? I hear the blue vests are awfully becoming, despite being quite the fashion risk. Then again, you two are into hardcore risks, as I recall.

Speaking of hypocrites...

By GottaLaff

I'd stick around and discuss the bald-faced hypocrisy of these statements, but I really must get to the store. I'm out of forks to stick in my eye:

[Alberto Gonzales was] asked if he would cooperate with Sen. Patrick Leahy's proposed truth commission, should that come to pass. Saying he would, Gonzo elaborated:

"I think only a fool would be unconcerned about any kind of commission or investigation in this political town and in this political climate. Having said that, again, because I feel like I've got nothing to hide and I've done nothing wrong, I'm not worried about the truth, so long as what we're talking about is the truth and things don't become politicized."

He makes Rick Perry and Mark Sanford look positively genuine. Or maybe he's insane. That's the only other reasonable explanation.

VIDEO-- Alberto Gonzales: Bush "kissed me on the forehead and he said, 'Just stay strong.'"

By GottaLaff

Where do we even begin:


The second half of the video features former FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh, who thinks Bush's critics will see the light:

"They don't understand having a moral compass, having character, having courage, having the ability to make a decision [...] The country's gonna miss him real soon."

I. Don't. Think so.

Or maybe he was one of those 20% who missed witnessing two million people welcome in a new president who boasts 78% approval ratings.

Yeah, we'll miss the Bush Crime Family real soon. In Allbaugh's freakin' dreams.

The Torture Report

By GottaLaff

Rep. Jim Moran (D- Virginia) just said on Hardball that the Obama administration won't move on the substance of this New York Times editorial, because they want to "move on". As the editorial says, it's too "politically fraught". Oy.

Duncan Hunter is on Hardball, too, and calls it "left wing rubbish", because, see, only three people were waterboarded and those three were bad, bad, bad guys who gave us "enormously valuable information that saved American lives" after being tortured. Great logic, Duncan. Moral high ground and real American principles be damned. Double oy.

All but President Bush’s most unquestioning supporters recognized the chain of unprincipled decisions that led to the abuse, torture and death in prisons run by the American military and intelligence services.

Now, a bipartisan report by the Senate Armed Services Committee has made what amounts to a strong case for bringing criminal charges against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld; his legal counsel, William J. Haynes; and potentially other top officials, including the former White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and David Addington, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff.

The report shows how actions by these men “led directly” to what happened at Abu Ghraib, in Afghanistan, in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and in secret C.I.A. prisons.

It said these top officials, charged with defending the Constitution and America’s standing in the world, methodically introduced interrogation practices based on illegal tortures devised by Chinese agents during the Korean War. [...]

The officials then issued legally and morally bankrupt documents to justify their actions, starting with a presidential order saying that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to prisoners of the “war on terror” — the first time any democratic nation had unilaterally reinterpreted the conventions. [...]

These top officials ignored warnings from lawyers in every branch of the armed forces that they were breaking the law, subjecting uniformed soldiers to possible criminal charges and authorizing abuses that were not only considered by experts to be ineffective, but were actually counterproductive. [...]

These policies have deeply harmed America’s image as a nation of laws and may make it impossible to bring dangerous men to real justice. The report said the interrogation techniques were ineffective, despite the administration’s repeated claims to the contrary. [...]

A prosecutor should be appointed to consider criminal charges against top officials at the Pentagon and others involved in planning the abuse. [...]

At the least, Mr. Obama should, as the organization Human Rights First suggested, order his attorney general to review more than two dozen prisoner-abuse cases that reportedly were referred to the Justice Department by the Pentagon and the C.I.A. — and declined by Mr. Bush’s lawyers.

Mr. Obama should consider proposals from groups like Human Rights Watch and the Brennan Center for Justice to appoint an independent panel to look into these and other egregious violations of the law. [...]

A good place for them to start would be to reverse Mr. Bush’s disastrous order of Feb. 7, 2002, declaring that the United States was no longer legally committed to comply with the Geneva Conventions.

Moran:

If we don't hold them accountable, we are not the nation the rest of the world wants us to be.

Rachel Maddow- Warrantless Wiretapping Whistleblower Thomas Tamm Interview

The man is an absolute hero. Background here and here and here.

Indictments dropped against Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzales

By GottaLaff

I knew it was too good to be true:

He and former Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales were included in a Texas prisoner-abuse case, Cheney because he invests in a company that invests in prison firms.

A judge dismissed indictments against Vice President Dick Cheney and former Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales on Monday and chastised the southern Texas prosecutor who brought the case.

Background here.