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DoJ Investigator Probing Gonzales Statements
The busiest employee of the Department of Justice by far must be the inspector general, Glenn Fine.
A couple of weeks ago, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) asked Fine to investigate whether outgoing-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had misled the Congress and press on a number of occasions. Fine, in a letter sent today (you can read it here), has responded that he's already looking into it.
That's because Fine is already juggling a number of investigations. And those investigations will necessarily touch on Gonzales' public statements. Writes Fine:
"The OIG has ongoing investigations that relate to most of the subjects addressed by the Attorney General's testimony that you identified. In particular, the OIG is conducting a review relating to the terrorist surveillance program, as well as a follow-up review of the use of national security letters. In addition, the OIG is conducting a joint investigation with the Department's Office of Professional Responsibility into allegations regarding the removal of certain United States Attomeys and improper hiring practices.We believe that through those investigations and other OIG reviews we will be able to assess most of the issues that you raise in your letter."
Leahy responded in a statement (in full below) that he's "pleased" that Fine is examining Gonzales' statements.
In June, Fine also confirmed to Leahy that he was investigating whether Gonzales had obstructed Congress' investigation of the U.S. attorney firings by having a conversation with Department aide Monica Goodling about his recollections.
Leahy's statement:
“I am pleased that Department of Justice Inspector General Glenn Fine will look into my concerns about potentially false, misleading or inappropriate testimony by the Attorney General. I look forward to the Inspector General’s findings on the unprecedented firings of nine United States Attorneys, the improper political hiring of career officials within the Justice Department, the misuse of National Security Letters, and the efforts to bypass the Department’s finding that a warrantless surveillance program was without legal basis. These actions have eroded the public’s trust and undermined morale within our justice system, from the top ranks to the cop on the beat. The current Attorney General is leaving, but these questions remain. It is appropriate that the Inspector General will examine whether the Attorney General was honest with this and other Congressional committees about these crucial issues. His investigations can help restore independence and accountability, which have been sorely lacking at the Justice Department.”
Comments (17)
Scott L wrote on August 30, 2007 1:28 PM:Why have we changed the way we speek in the last decade or more? Let's bring back some good words that get to the point like steal-lie-cheat. In this world we live in the reports on wrongdoers is too candy coated and like the old days we shoud call it what it is. Maybe if we did there would be a few less puppets and enablers in public offices.
PaulMN wrote on August 30, 2007 1:37 PM:To Scott L
Perhaps we don't see the good to-the-point words like steal, lie, cheat, bribe because people are afraid of lawyers. You are safer from a law suit if you say that so-and-so's remarks were confusing to you.
scavok wrote on August 30, 2007 1:39 PM:It's nice that the fully discredited DOJ is finally investigating the AG. I am sure the report will find that nothing inappropriate happened.
Too bad nobody is in the mood for the standard White House whitewash anymore.
So go ahead and investigate, Mr. Fine. But the Congressional pressure should not let up for even a moment.
JamesCincy wrote on August 30, 2007 1:41 PM:Could this be the real reason Gonzo resigned?
sailmaker wrote on August 30, 2007 1:57 PM:What? They managed to get the security clearances to investigate the TSP? Amazing. Hope they can get them for the rest of the things Bush&Co would not let them see.
sailmaker wrote on August 30, 2007 1:59 PM:What? They managed to get the security clearances to investigate the TSP? Amazing. Hope they can get them for the rest of the things Bush&Co would not let them see.
Mark F. wrote on August 30, 2007 2:06 PM:I hope Fine realizes that Bush, Rove and Gonzales are already on their way out the door. And I hope he does his job and not the president's job.
StevenWells wrote on August 30, 2007 2:23 PM:So, what's this guy Fine's background? Is he a career Justice employee, or just another BushCo lackey? If the former, dare we hope that he is a man of integrity and honesty who will see the job through to the end, no matter what the outcome?
Well, I can dream, can't I?
cindy wrote on August 30, 2007 2:49 PM:i agree - this is the real reason gonzo resigned.....
markg8 wrote on August 30, 2007 2:50 PM:What Steve said.
Steve Garrett wrote on August 30, 2007 2:56 PM:What do you think the odds are that any possible criminal offense committed by Gonzo is pardoned soon after the November 08 elections?
Bush is going to have quite a pardon list especially if a Dem is elected who won't be inclined to let bygones be bygones.
A DC Wonk wrote on August 30, 2007 3:01 PM:Yeah, what Steve asked.
We _do_ know that Fine authored the DOJ OIG report that noted all the FBI violations of National Security letters . . . . but, since nobody knows the real story, I suppose we don't know if that was a fair report, or had some whitewashing in it.
But if I recall, both FIB Mueller and AGAG weren't particularly pleased with the report.
Anyone else know about him, or can guess whether, or how hard, this investigation will be seeking the truth?
astigmatist wrote on August 30, 2007 3:05 PM:Fine headed special investigations for the OIG from 1996-2000, before he became Inspector General:
http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/glennfine.htm
So he doesn't look like a party hack at all.
Andrew wrote on August 30, 2007 3:29 PM:astigmatist has it right, Fine is a career quality guy. I bet he was kept since he was good at basketball (made him seem a "regular guy" even though he was at Oxford and Harvard).
Doc wrote on August 30, 2007 6:56 PM:On Monday, 8/27/07, at 8PM on MSNBC, they reported that Mr. Fine had met with AG Gonzales right before he decided to resign.
The USDOJ has two investigative entities. The Office of Professional Regulation ( OPR ) answers only to Gonzales and everyone knows by now that he has been running cover for the President.
FYI - US Attorney Eubanks gave OPR a day long interview regarding the USDOJ abuses concerning the big tobacco case. She had been told to get her witnesses to change their testimony. She even mentioned White House emails; however, not a word of her testimony appeared in OPR's report.
The other investigative entity is the USDOJ Inspector General. Informed sources in Washington say that Inspector General Glenn Fine will do the job right. He does not answer to Gonzales. He has independent subpoena power.
FYI - There is a major public corruption problem down in Florida allegedly involving the President's brother, Jeb Bush.
The Florida State officials tried to bury the complaints. However, US Senator Bill Nelson was apprised of the problem. He forwarded a copy of the complaint to the FBI asking for a federal public corruption investigation. US Attorney Greg Miller in Tallahassee has been sitting on the complaints since last fall. The speculation is that GWB refused to give the USDOJ permission to investigate his brother. If Mr. Fine recovers evidence of obstruction, it may be grounds for impeachment.
After the Florida corruption had been brought to Mr. Fine's atention, he approached Congress about getting the authority to investigate the USDOJ attorneys, something that only the OPR could do in the past.
The question that begs to be asked is whether a deal was reached with Gonzales to compel him to suddenly leave GWB unprotected. Gonzales is facing the real possibility of criminal charges. GWB needed Gonzales in that position to run cover for him. His resignation supposedly came as a shock to the folks in the White House.
So far, the evidence suggests that Mr. Fine is a man of integrity and that he will take his investigations where they need to go. The White House can't shut him down, like they have done to Congress.
My money is on IG Fine to uncover the truth and restore integrity to one of our most important federal agencies - the USDOJ.
moondancer wrote on August 30, 2007 7:23 PM:Good post, Doc. Seems likely that Fine gave fredo the courtesy of a "heres what I got already and we've really just started" call.
Shouldn't be hard for the perjury and witness tampering, we all heard that and its on the record. The rest should be a fundamental exercise in investigation.
I hadn't heard about any of this stuff in Fla w/Jeb. Any guidance on where I can read more about it?
Between this and Siegleman, the timing of turd and fredos departure is making more and more sense.
Doc wrote on August 31, 2007 2:33 PM:To: Moondancer ( And Everyone Else )
Florida initiated an administrative inquiry last January, so while I can't discuss the evidence that stands in support of our public corruption complaints, I can talk about the nature of the complaints.
We have reaon to believe that Gov. Charlie Crist is between a rock and a hard place. Folks within the RNC have told us that he will lose the 2008 VP nomination consideration if he refers our public corruption complaints against Jeb Bush to FDLE for a criminal investigation.
People inside the Tally Capitol and longstanding friends of Crist concur. I can't discuss here why we believe that GWB has been covering for his brother, but if it can be proven ( and I believe Fine will prove it - we've discussed the problem ), that's federal obstruction and grounds for impeachment.
While the FBI has it's problems, I still believe in the organization. Once Gonzales is out the door ( 9/17 ), I believe Mueller will do us right as well. Time will tell.
We have a corrupt system of administrative justice within the FL DHSMV. A dozen former Hearing Officers have walked away from their careers because they refused to violate the law as directed.
Jeb Bush turned a blind eye to the corruption for 4 years. To his credit, as soon as Crist get into the Governor's office, he fired the FL DHSMV director. However, over the past six months, neither the new director nor the FL Cabinet has done anything to stop the ongoing abuse of authority. Thousands of Florida motorists have ben deprived from receiving due process and justice at the administrative level of government. Judges keep awarding damages to drivers in the appellate courts because these unethical public officials keep prosecuting the public in bad faith.
The MSM refuses to carry the story, so we have decided to file a federal lawsuit. Once it's filed, all the facts will become a matter of public review.
If you want to keep in touch, contact me at:
dueprocess@comcast.net :o)