The most recent controversy about Alberto Gonzales telling lies centers on the apparent contradiction between his sworn testimony and that of FBI Director Robert Mueller. Gonzales and his partisans appear to be basing their defense of the AG on the notion that there’s a narrow, semantical distinction about what constitutes the ‘terrorist surveillance program’ that gets him off the hook for perjury. And there’s even some lingering question about whether Mueller really said what he appeared to say in his congressional testimony.
Maybe we’re over-interpreting what said or perhaps the strictures of classification made him speak at a level of generality that has confused people about whether he was really contradicting his nominal boss.
Indeed, Gonzales’ flack at the Justice Department is making exactly this claim. “Confusion is inevitable” when public officials discuss highly classified programs, DOJ spokesman Brian Roehrkasse told reporters.
But folks at the FBI seem to be saying, no. No confusion.
This little snippet comes from a piece that ran in Monday’s New York Daily News …
Justice spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said “confusion is inevitable” when officials discuss classified activities in public.
FBI officials bristled at that.
“If you read the [FBI] director’s testimony, it is anything but confusing,” said a top Mueller ally at the FBI.
In other words, the folks around Mueller seem pretty clear: Gonzales perjured himself.
