A good bit of today I was busy working on some other TPM business. So I didn’t get to watch a lot of the Gonzales testimony as it was happening. But I’m watching it now as we put together a highlight reel for tomorrow’s episode of TPMtv. And a lot of this stuff is really unbelieveable to watch. It’s a genuinely sad day when you have the chief law enforcement officer of country remaining in office after he’s been publicly and repeatedly shown to be a liar.
That’s not just my allegation. Even in their more delicate senator-speak the Democratic Chairman and the Republican Ranking Member of the Committee in so many words repeatedly called him a liar to his face. Indeed, late in the hearing Chairman Leahy suggested committee staff will review the Attorney General’s testimony to see if his deceptions merit charges of perjury being brought against him.
We’ve got a slew of video clips of key exchanges in today’s coverage at Muckraker. But this one stands out for me, even though in some ways it’s not the most egregious case.
In this exchange Sen. Schumer (D) asks Gonzales who sent him and Andy Card to John Ashcroft’s bedside. And Gonzales just refuses to answer. He keeps repeating that they went “on behalf” of the president. But he won’t say if the president sent them. He just won’t answer.
Schumer notes the key point: Gonzales isn’t even asserting any kind of privilege. He doesn’t say he can’t remember. He just won’t answer.
Take a look …
It really requires stepping back in this case to take stock of this exchange. Testifying before Congress is like being called to testify in court. You have to answer every question. Every question. You can fudge and say you don’t remember something and see how far you get. Or you can invoke various privileges. And it’s up to the courts to decide if the invocations are valid. But it’s simply not permitted to refuse to answer a question. It is quite literally contempt of Congress.
