Saturday, June 16, 2007
Inspector General - No Go-Along-to-Get-Along Hack
As the Washington Post reported on Friday, the Justice Department has now opted to also "investigat[e] whether Attorney General R. Gonzales sought to improperly influence the testimony" of Monica Goodling in addition to the U.S attorney firings.
Justice Inspector General Glenn Fine and the head of the Office of Professional Responsibility, H. Marshall Jarrett confirmed by letter to Sens. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., that "the scope of [their] investigation" would indeed address the subject of perjury by either Gonzo or Goodling; all bets are on Abu Gonzales.
If you recall, Gonzales testified that he had not discussed the U.S. attorney firings with anyone from his office because to do so might compromise the investigation; and then Goodling testified that Gonzo had approached her in an apparent attempt to coordinate their stories.
And of course, the person clearing Goodling to testify...? Yep, the same inspector general with his sidekick, the head of the Office of Professional Responsibility.
Only today Think Progress front-pages the news that "[t]he Office of Special Counsel, which has already recommended that GSA chief Lurita Doan be suspended or fired for participating in partisan activities while on the job, is now moving forward with its investigation of nearly 20 other administration agencies."
Will all these investigations result in some kind of legal smoke screen to hide the high crimes and absolve the cretins?!?
Well, from everything Howling Latina has read so far, Fine appears to be a professional in the mold of Patrick Fitzgerald.
Going back to the NSA surveillance program, here are a few headlines with his name at the center from as far back as last year.
Indeed, if HL were the Bush administration, she would be very, very afraid.
Justice Dept. Expands Inquiry of Gonzales, The New York Times, June 15, 2007
THE NATION; Justice inquiry expands to include Gonzales; Democrats say his remarks to an aide were an attempt to influence her testimony. Los Angeles Times,June 15, 2007
FBI Finds It Frequently Overstepped in Collecting Data, The Washington Post,June 14, 2007
Justice Dept. probes its hirings Investigating for bias toward conservatives, TheBoston Globe, May 31, 2007
Justice Dept. Allows Immunity Deal for Former Gonzales Aide's Testimony. Washington Post, May 8, 2007.
Audit criticizes feds' $5 billion wireless system; New interagency communication network at 'high risk of failure', USA TODAY, March 27, 2007
IG Criticizes Work On Wireless Network For Law Enforcement, The WashingtonPost, March 27, 2007
Government misstated statistics on the war on terror, audit shows. Sacramento Bee,February 21, 2007.
FBI should have followed up on Foley's emails, inquiry finds. USA Today, January 23, 2007.Justice Official Opens Spying Inquiry, The New York Times, November 28, 2006
Bush Thwarted Probe Into NSA Wiretapping. "Officials...revealed yesterday that Glenn A. Fine, the Justice Department's inspector general, has opened a preliminary inquiry into how the FBI used information gleaned from the NSA surveillance program." - Washington Post, July 19, 2006.
