FBI chief contradicts Gonzales testimony
FBI chief contradicts Gonzales testimony
By Edward Luce in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: July 27 2007 00:32 | Last updated: July 27 2007 00:32
Robert Mueller, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on Thursday flatly contradicted sworn testimony given by Alberto Gonzales in a blow that sharply raises the chances that the attorney-general will be investigated for perjury.
Mr Mueller’s testimony came a few hours after four senators called for the appointment of an independent prosecutor to investigate Mr Gonzales for giving allegedly misleading testimony about the Bush administration’s secret wiretapping programme.
Mr Gonzales, who has maintained that there was no dispute between the White House and the Justice Department over the National Security Agency’s surveillance programme, has repeatedly been contradicted both by officials and lawmakers.
On Thursday, Mr Mueller said that as a White House counsel in 2004, Mr Gonzales had visited John Ashcroft - the then attorney-general - in hospital in a futile effort to press him to sign off on the NSA programme.
Mr Gonzales had denied that was the topic when he visited Mr Ashcroft.
The alternative account - on Thursday corroborated by Mr Mueller – was provided in dramatic testimony earlier this year by Jim Comey, who was acting attorney-general in 2004.
Mr Gonzales has also been accused of lying about the content of a 2005 briefing to Congress that he claims was about a classified legal matter and not about the now defunct NSA programme.
The dispute is part of a broader inquiry into whether Mr Gonzales and other senior officials fired nine US attorneys last year for overtly political reasons.
On Wednesday, the House judiciary committee issued a contempt citation against Josh Bolten, the White House chief of staff, and Harriet Miers, a former White House lawyer, for refusing to testify on the matter.
On Thursday, the Senate judiciary committee issued a subpoena to Karl Rove, Mr Bush’s senior political adviser, who is highly unlikely to comply.
By Edward Luce in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: July 27 2007 00:32 | Last updated: July 27 2007 00:32
Robert Mueller, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on Thursday flatly contradicted sworn testimony given by Alberto Gonzales in a blow that sharply raises the chances that the attorney-general will be investigated for perjury.
Mr Mueller’s testimony came a few hours after four senators called for the appointment of an independent prosecutor to investigate Mr Gonzales for giving allegedly misleading testimony about the Bush administration’s secret wiretapping programme.
Mr Gonzales, who has maintained that there was no dispute between the White House and the Justice Department over the National Security Agency’s surveillance programme, has repeatedly been contradicted both by officials and lawmakers.
On Thursday, Mr Mueller said that as a White House counsel in 2004, Mr Gonzales had visited John Ashcroft - the then attorney-general - in hospital in a futile effort to press him to sign off on the NSA programme.
Mr Gonzales had denied that was the topic when he visited Mr Ashcroft.
The alternative account - on Thursday corroborated by Mr Mueller – was provided in dramatic testimony earlier this year by Jim Comey, who was acting attorney-general in 2004.
Mr Gonzales has also been accused of lying about the content of a 2005 briefing to Congress that he claims was about a classified legal matter and not about the now defunct NSA programme.
The dispute is part of a broader inquiry into whether Mr Gonzales and other senior officials fired nine US attorneys last year for overtly political reasons.
On Wednesday, the House judiciary committee issued a contempt citation against Josh Bolten, the White House chief of staff, and Harriet Miers, a former White House lawyer, for refusing to testify on the matter.
On Thursday, the Senate judiciary committee issued a subpoena to Karl Rove, Mr Bush’s senior political adviser, who is highly unlikely to comply.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 6:14 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home