Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y) has opened a new line of attack on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales – calling for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate whether Gonzales misled or committed perjury in testimony before Congress.
Schumer, who was the first to call for Gonzales to resign in March, clashed with Gonzales during his appearance before the Senate on Tuesday over his past testimony that Schumer said other Bush administration officials and members of Congress had contradicted.
In the letter seeking the special counsel, Schumer and three others senators level three charges of contradicted testimony by Gonzales -- charges that in themselves are somewhat complex.
They charge Gonzales misled Congress when he claimed there had been no serious internal Justice Department disagreement about the controversial warrantless wiretapping program but others testified there had been concerns raised; that the program questioned internally wasn’t the warrantless wiretapping program acknowledged by the president, when others said it was; and that he had not discussed the prosecutor firings with his staff that was involved when one of the staffers said he had.
Joining Schumer in the call were Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein of California, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
Gonzales denied the charges on Tuesday.
White House spokesman Tony Snow this morning sought to come to the aid of the beleagured attorney general in his “gaggle” session with reporters. “Unfortunately we get into areas that you cannot discuss openly. It’s a very complex issue. But the Attorney General was speaking consistently,” Snow told reporters.
But pressed by reporters about statements from other administration members contradicting Gonzales’ testimony, Snow sounded oddly similar to Gonzales on Tuesday: “It’s simply more complex than that, and I can't go into any more detail.”
Tom Brune