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Gonzales Testifies before The House
The hearing before the House Judiciary Committee is beginning now. It's airing on C-Span 3 and streaming from the House Judiciary website. We'll provide you running updates throughout the day.
Here's a little preview of what you'll be hearing from the Republican side. From Roll Call (sub. req.):
In what may be the most spirited public defense of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to date, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee today will demand an end to what one called an “endless piscine expedition” in the U.S. attorneys scandal....“If there are no fish in this lake, we should reel in our lines of question, dock our empty boat and turn to more pressing issues,” [Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the ranking member on Judiciary said].
Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah), the ranking member of the Judiciary subcommittee on commercial and administrative law, which is in charge of the probe, also sounded fed up.
“I hope he’s clear, direct and unapologetic,” Cannon said of Gonzales’ testimony.
“I’m really tired of innuendo and repeated use of the word corruption,” Cannon added. “If [Democrats] can’t produce tomorrow, the story ought to disappear.”
Comments (43)
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 9:49 AM:Ranking member my foot! What a Ass...jerk...oh, yea he too is from...TEXAS
Anne wrote on May 10, 2007 9:49 AM:The comments of Lamar Smith and Chris Cannon would have more credibility if we actually had all the information needed to determine whether there was any "there" there - but we don't. We haven't gotten all the e-mails, we haven't fully explored the RNC-related e-mails, we haven't heard from Rove or Miers, haven't heard from Goodling, and on and on and on.
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 9:51 AM:there going to try and shut this thing down...I can hear it in their voices!@@
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 9:56 AM:I get so tired of these F@C#king Republicans, and yes all of them thinking that this is a fishing trip..What are they hiding? Thats what is going on..they are involved in the whole thing. If they wanted truth, they would get to it, but SEX is not in the equation so ling is good, and stealing is good, but sex no,no,no!! F@C#king ay! Sick Bast@rds!
Gee wrote on May 10, 2007 9:56 AM:If there are no fish in this lake
See also "if the world is flat," "if Karl Rove is honest," "if the Pope is Norwegian."
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 10:03 AM:FUCK! Here come the "I don't recalls" but Conyers ain't letting that pass.
Ned Kay wrote on May 10, 2007 10:04 AM:If Gonzo is to be nailed, it won't be by Conyers whose performance, at least until now, is nothing short of pathetic!
I just wish there was a better interrogator!
sc Fear...Gonzo has nothing to fear with this limp-wristed questioning!
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 10:04 AM:what an ass gonzales is, he needs to see the transcripts of anyone he can get them just like anyone else. I need a drink!@
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 10:06 AM:Lamr Smith:
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 10:08 AM:Did the WH ever ask you to fire attorney/rataliate, etc?"
Gonzo answer: " Not that I can recall"
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 10:12 AM:Why the hell isn't gonzo under oath? Grrrrr
What not under oath? someone please rerun the beginning of this act!
And if he isnt...what the f#C@k is wrong with the Chairman!
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 10:13 AM:Oh shit. Sanchez is throwing his words back in the perjurers face. Listen to that sigh from Gonzo.
foggylady wrote on May 10, 2007 10:13 AM:Getting an straight answer from Gonzo is like trying to nail Jello to the wall...
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 10:14 AM:Positive note is that the comm. is asking good questions.
Lungren is a total prick. And why the fuck isn't Gonzo under oath?!!!!!!!!! Is that they only way the WH would let him testify? WTF?!
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 10:16 AM:HaHa! Sensebrenner- how pathetic is that.
Tosh wrote on May 10, 2007 10:20 AM:Wow, isn't Sensebrenner doing EXACTLY some of the same crap that the other congressmen pulled by asking what was going on with an ongoing investigation into corruption?
TheraP wrote on May 10, 2007 10:21 AM:No fish.
Reminds me of a certain savior who ordered the fishermen to try again.
If the savior wants it.... fish!
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 10:22 AM:Republicans- DELAY, DELAY, DELAY. Conyers needs to put a stop to this nonsense.
bobh wrote on May 10, 2007 10:22 AM:Man they are trying hard to slow this doen to a crawl.
whidbeygrl wrote on May 10, 2007 10:23 AM:Repubs are trying to derail the committe by nitpicking and changing the subject..just like they have in all the other oversight hearings on a variety of topics.
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 10:27 AM:Good Lord ..Gonza cannot even give a year when Goodling started..
The Dems are letting me down. Ask better questions.
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 10:29 AM:Why are they not nailing him to the wall with this ninth attorney we now know about? Who are the nimrods on their staffs responsible for these questions? Were they too busy getting wasted in Georgetown last night? FUCK!
Tosh wrote on May 10, 2007 10:31 AM:Wow, this House inquiry is so much lower in overall "quality" than the Senate episode last month. And not under oath? What? I thought I was pretty well informed about this interview, but that piece of info caught me completely by surprise.
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 10:32 AM:Sensenbrenner's line of questioning was one of the most ironic and idiotic line of attacks that I've heard.
He was essentially saying You better hurry up with those indictments of Rep. Jefferson! This is no exaggeration. He wasn't questioning the personnel issues. He was insinuating that if charges weren't brought soon that it might impact the DOJ's funding.
Isn't that exactly the kind of reasoning that got the White House into this mix to begin with?
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 10:35 AM:With all we know at this point I figured there was NO WAY the Dems would not nail his ass to the wall in this hearing. Instead they are all over the block with these questions. They need to get their shit together- and QUICK. Let Josh and the TPM staff write the questions because I'm getting a bad feeling the pols are not all that well informed about what is going on.
Rebel wrote on May 10, 2007 10:38 AM:“If there are no fish in this lake, we should reel in our lines of question, dock our empty boat and turn to more pressing issues,” [Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the ranking member on Judiciary said].
Tosh wrote on May 10, 2007 10:41 AM:More pressing issues like finding out who poisoned the waters?
Maybe they felt that the new revelations were too new to act on.....or they just didn't have their #### together. And they don't seem to know how to ask questions in the right way either....this is kinda heartbreaking.
theswan wrote on May 10, 2007 10:44 AM:Members that sit on the Judiciary should have some idea of how the law must work. We need to hear all the evidence related to this issue. When those people directly knowledgeable of the issues surrounding these accusation come foward and tell their stories then we may put this to bed.
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 10:46 AM:Like a soap opera junkie, I want to hear "the rest of the story"
Now Repub. from Ca. is blathering about the recent "terrorist" arrests of those illegal aliens..
wayyyyyyyy off topic, which is, of course, the point.
And notice how, when he wants to , Gonzo can just chatter away and stay on point of a "safe" question.
uncle vester wrote on May 10, 2007 10:48 AM:Absolutely no signs of his profound ADDH when Repubs ask a question.
This hearing is bullshit
anon, too wrote on May 10, 2007 10:50 AM:I'm outta here
Republicans on the committee have been given lots of talking points about immigration and hooking it into terrorism prevention. This appears calculated to shore up the weak position that USAs were fired because of failure to pursue the Administration's very important focus on immigration and illegal immigrant issues in USA offices nationwide. See they are just taking care of us.
Change the subject, but also shore up the levee.
theswan wrote on May 10, 2007 10:55 AM:I hear panic in the posted "without" a name. Sit back, the day is not over. The republicans will soon run out of questions if they alrady have not. Be patient and grap a bag of pop corn.
"fear" as in, you may have been exposed to the cool-aid.
foggylady wrote on May 10, 2007 10:56 AM:Wow..earlier Gonzo said he had no idea of what cases the local offices were working on. He said this to defend himself about knowing about Deborah Yang's investigation and her sudden leaving.
No clue, he said it.
( but then said he was aware of Yang's financial problems.) ?????
Now, suddenly, he can recite, in great detail the Voter Fraud issue in Todd Graves/Schozleman case.
uncle vester wrote on May 10, 2007 11:02 AM:theswan-
Not panic, just disgust. I hope you're right, but that slimy little $#%%^%$^ should be under oath.
uncle vester wrote on May 10, 2007 11:06 AM:Now the break and recap.
Conyers hopes the members stick to the USA firing issue- hope harder, Congressman, and load the damned
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 11:09 AM:grapeshot already.
I give the Dems a 3 out of 10 with their questioning so far. Seriously, if this is the best we can expect they need to start wrapping this shit up. People are going to quickly lose patience with this and ask "Where's the beef?" I honestly am shocked they are unable to trace it back to Rove in this hearing- the Dems just seem all over the block in their questioning. Instead they blather on and on about things not even related to the fired attorneys (important issues but nonetheless not relevant to the matter at hand).
PJ White wrote on May 10, 2007 11:16 AM:Code word: waste
As in this hearing is starting to look like a waste of my time.
The Repugs have provided AGAG with their safe questions beforehand so that he can answer competently. It kind of blows up their face IMHO because he stutters and hesitates and sounds like a moron when he talks about the firings. Could be his "tell" when he's lying.
Toshi wrote on May 10, 2007 12:23 PM:Ok, now its PRISONER'S RIGHTS?!?! This is the kind of crap that makes us look like wackos.....and it's TOTALLY unrelated to the tasks at hand....Conyers seems to have failed to leash in and focus the dems on the comittee.....this is getting really sad.
El Borba wrote on May 10, 2007 1:47 PM:Thank heavens for Robert Wexler!
Finally, someone is trying to pin down, player by player, who at Justice placed a single name on the firing list.
Apparently it was a member of the janitorial crew.
Code: black (as in black day for the DOJ or black mark for AGAG)
Richard L. Adlof wrote on May 10, 2007 2:43 PM:BUT why isn't anyone asking about 'the kids' ? We NEED to know about the kids!
A little prep-time woulda went far:
1. Logic classes,
2. Toastmasters meetings,
3. Speech and rhetoric classes,
4. Watching the tapes of the Senate hearings, and
5. Taking ten fucking minutes to write down a coupla fucking questions before the start of the fucking hearing.
SIDE NOTE: This crap is making me feel better about the useless fuck (Howard Berman) who represents my District . . . and THAT is a crime.
Anonymous wrote on May 10, 2007 2:57 PM:"I hope he's clear, direct and unapologetic."
Given that Gonzo's got the last one locked up, one outta three ain't bad!
ohiomeister wrote on May 10, 2007 3:00 PM:It doesn't matter whether you are under oath or not, you can't lie to Congress or other federal officials. (See Libby, Scooter)
inaqdi wrote on May 23, 2007 2:37 PM:Hello! Cool guestbook, interesting information. Keep it UP.
Good bye.