When Did AG Gonzales Know About FBI Abuses?

Following up on today’s Washington Post bombshell that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales knew about abuses of FBI counterterrorism powers years before a Justice Department inspector general’s report earlier this year, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said the misdirection went beyond Alberto Gonzales’ spoken testimony before Congress in 2005 and then again in April of this year. The Justice Department had misled Congress in written responses to questions for the record as well, which were provided to Congress just last week. For instance, a response, signed by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard Hertling, read:

“Prior to the release of the Inspector General’s report on March 9, 2007, the Inspector General provided drafts of the report for classification and factual review. Upon learning of the findings contained in the report, the Attorney General was concerned, promptly ordered a detailed review of the report’s findings and recommendations, and directed senior Department officials, including officials at the FBI, to address the shortcomings identified in the Inspector General’s report.”

Unless “prior” means “two years before,” the DOJ’s reply to the committee neglects to mention that Gonzales received numerous alerts as to FBI abuses of the sort the inspector general found.

Here’s Leahy’s rejoinder:

“Each day seems to bring with it another example of this Administration’s troubling pattern of misleading or stonewalling Congress and the public.

“The reports today that the Attorney General misled Congress regarding violations of Americans’ privacy and civil liberties by his department are deeply disturbing and warrant further inquiry. In addition to the Attorney General’s misleading statements to the Senate Intelligence Committee prior to the reauthorization of the PATRIOT ACT, it appears the Attorney General also failed to disclose the truth about when he first knew of widespread abuses by the FBI of National Security Letters (NSLs) in questions I posed to him following his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year.

“Unfortunately, this Administration’s penchant for secrecy makes it difficult to work in a cooperative way, and it is only through dogged oversight or Freedom of Information Act lawsuits – such as the one that revealed these inconsistent statements – that Congress and the American people learn the truth about this Administration’s activities.

“This inconsistency is a disturbing addition to a growing list of misleading answers by the Attorney General to questions from the Judiciary Committee, and it is unacceptable. I intend to pursue this matter with the Attorney General prior to his appearance before the Judiciary Committee later this month.”