Did Alberto Gonzales openly lie to Congress about ‘Patriot Act’ abuses?Gonzales Knew Of ‘Patriot Act’ Violations, Says ReportBy Cliff Montgomery – July 10, 2007Attorney General Alberto Gonzales possessed reports which revealed numerous FBI violations of the so-called “Patriot Act” months before telling senators that no such known abuses had occurred, according to the Tuesday edition of The Washington Post.In April 2005, while calling for renewal of the near-dictatorial powers granted to the Bush Administration under the infamous (Anti) Patriot Act, Gonzales proclaimed, “There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse” from the questionable law.He was lying.Gonzales in fact had been given a least half a dozen reports verifying a number of violations three months before he made that statement to the Senate, according to the Post. The paper wrote it had obtained the internal FBI papers via the Freedom of Information Act.The FBI’s criminal activities included illegal spying and an unauthorized property search, according to the Post.Justice officials told the Post they were unsure if Gonzales had actually read the reports–which is akin to an admission that Gonzales is either stunningly corrupt or grossly incompetent. Or both.Department spin doctor Brian Roehrkasse claimed, “The statements from the attorney general are consistent with statements from other officials at the FBI and the department.”Yet the question was never if others at the Bureau had repeated the apparent lies of Gonzales, but why Gonzales had lied to the Senate and the people of the United States in the first place.Roehrkasse also told the Post that a number of the violations was simply the result of such benign things as procedural protections or typographical errors.Yet such a biased sample isn’t the issue, either. The question was, and remains, ‘Has there been any proven violations of civil liberties under the Anti-Patriot Act?’A parsed statement that a number of FBI violations weren’t illegal, is itself an indirect admission that at least some of the Bureau violations probably were illegal–else the spin doctors would quickly proclaim that there was not one single illegal violation to be found.In politics, truth is revealed as much in what is deliberately left out of a partisan statement, as anything openly stated.Like what you’re reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of thee-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!
How Necessary Laws Are Killed These Days
Lawmakers generally only fight to protect the things they care about – and all too often, that just doesn’t include the lives of most of their constituents.
