Senate Judiciary Committee with Alberto Gonzales-7/24/07 Pt1

Part 1 of 32 Senate Judiciary Committee with Alberto Gonzales. Chairman Senator Patrick Leahy opens the hearing (Leahy's statement is continued in Part 2). 7/24/07
KEEP IN MIND: Gonzales was given each and every question he would be asked beforehand. Nothing was a surprise - there was absolutely NO "GOTCHA!"

Transcript of this portion of the hearing:
LEAHY: Good morning.

I'd ask those who are standing in the back to show courtesy to the people who are -- who stood in line to be here to sit down. Everybody is welcome here who's here. But I would expect all those who are in here for the hearing to respect the rights of everybody who's here and to not stand and block those who are trying to watch the proceedings and have a right to be here.

Three months ago, when Attorney General Gonzales last appeared before this committee, I said that the Department of Justice was experiencing a crisis of leadership perhaps unrivaled during its history. Unfortunately, the crisis has not abated. Until there is independence and transparency and accountability, the crises will continue.

The attorney general's lost the confidence of the Congress and the American people. But through oversight we hope to restore balance and accountability to the executive branch.

The Department of Justice must be restored to being worthy of its name. It should not be reduced to another political arm of the White House; it was never intended to be that. Trust and confidence of the American people in federal law enforcement must be restored.

With the department shrouded in scandal, the deputy attorney general's announced his resignation. The nominee to become associate attorney general requested that his nomination be withdrawn, rather than testify under oath at a confirmation hearing. The attorney general's chief of staff, the deputy attorney general's chief of staff, the department's White House liaison and the White House political director have all resigned, as have others.

I would joke that the last one out the door should turn out the lights, but the Department of Justice is too important for that. We need to shine more light there, not less.

LEAHY: Investigation into the firing for partisan purposes of United States attorneys who had been appointed by this president, along with an ever-growing series of controversies and scandals, have revealed an administration driven by a vision of an all-powerful executive over our constitutional system of checks and balances, one that values loyalty over judgment, secrecy over openness and ideology over competence.

The accumulated and essentially uncontroverted evidence is that political considerations factored into the unprecedented firing of at least nine United States attorneys last year. Testimony and documents show that the list was compiled based on input from the highest political ranks in the White House, that senior officials were apparently focused on the political impact of federal prosecutions and whether federal prosecutors were doing enough to bring partisan voter fraud and corruption cases, and that the reasons given for these firings were contrived as part of a cover-up.

What the White House stonewalling is preventing is conclusive evidence for who made the decision to fire these federal prosecutors. We know from the testimony that it was not the president. Everyone who's testified has said that he was not involved. None of the senior officials at the Department of Justice could testify how people were added to the list or the real reasons that people were included among the federal prosecutors to be replaced. Indeed, the evidence we've been able to collect points to Karl Rove and the political operatives at the White House.

The stonewalling by the White House raises the question, what is it that the White House is so desperate to hide?

The White House has asserted blanket claims of executive privilege despite officials' contention that the president was not involved. They refuse to provide any factual basis for their blanket claims, have instructed former White House officials not to testify about what they know and then instructed Harriet Miers to refuse even to appear as required by a House Judiciary Committee subpoena.

Now, anonymous officials are claiming that the statutory mechanism to test White House assertions of executive privilege no longer govern. In essence, the White House asserts its claim of privilege is the final word, the Congress may not review it and, of course, there's no court dare review it. Here again, this White House claims to be above the law.

My oath, unlike those who have apparently sworn their allegiance to the president, is to the United States Constitution. I believe in checks and balances and in the rule of law.

Despite the stonewalling and obstruction, we've learned that Todd Graves, U.S. attorney in the Western District of Missouri, was fired after he expressed reservations about a lawsuit that would have stripped many African-American voters from the rolls in Missouri.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• senate
• judiciary
• committee
• transcript
• schlozman
• leahy
• cspan
• part
• 1
• alberto
• gonzales
• 7/24/07
• cssjcagpt172407

[Napstrpsx]

Anybody else want to stab a pencil through Alberto's eye when he sits there trying to look series and thoughtful. I also love how throughout this hearing he remembers the exact dates of certain happenings but then will turn around with his "I don't recall" rhetoric. You're a fucking disgrace, Gonzalez.

[adam3176]

JUST ANOTHER BUSH DICK SUCKER. this Fuck is a nazi fuck that is bushes Dick sucker. fuck this fucker.

[NewYorkCityUSA7]

@JeremyxFisher Awesomely Stupid.

[JeremyxFisher]

Alberto Gonzales is awesome.

[princekuja]

Dont forget W.Wilson who signed in the Federal Reserve who f*cks us each day/hr/min/sec and cant be regulated/audited (least not yet)..

[al8as]

Gonzales was such a bumbling fool. Perfect example of Bush-Cheney-Rove cronyism.

[vikingscool]

Fuck you, Gonzales! I say to congratulations

to Steven McWillams was killed himself in the

jail because he don't want to stay in jail.

Because USA could be override California law

for allow marijuana purposes. But Steven

is now in the heaven! NO MORE STAYING IN

JAIL! GOOD BYE JAIL!

[Napstrpsx]

Thank you so much for uploading this. Too bad that I doubt as much as 5% of our public knows just how much of a scumbag this guy is and how much the Bush administration did to hijack our civil liberties. And Bush backed Gonzalez all the way to the end.

[victoriafairy]

Dear Allies, Americans,

The foundations of your great nation are crumbling beneath a rotten and eroded political leadership which taught you to fear and isolate from the rest of the world.

Rise, dear friends. Do not let the blur of fear cover your sight. Do not let monolateralism lead you astray. Remember your founding fathers and the great principles of your constitution. The democratic underpinnings of your nation are the credentials of a better future for us all.

[LetItBurnnn]

yes sir! send them there