…pants on fire
Scott Horton delivers “A Gonzales Recap” about the AG’s soon-to-become-infamous testimony yesterday before the Senate Judiciary Committee:
He was extremely busy rewriting history today, and it now appears that when he raises his hand and swears an oath, there’s no telling which version of the past will appear next. First, he tells us that the trip to see Ashcroft in the hospital has to do with something entirely different from the Terrorist Surveillance Program about which his former Deputy James Comey testified. In doing this, he contradicts his own prior testimony, and he contradicts Comey. [For those who don’t remember Comey’s testimony, my summary is here.] At least one person is lying. And indeed, that person has to be Gonzales. The only issue is which of his diametrically opposed statements is the lie.
Spencer Ackerman links to the relevant video clips at TPM Muckraker, and Glenn Greenwald sums up Gonzales’ problems telling the truth:
That Alberto Gonzales is a serial liar -- including when he testifies under oath to Congress -- has been long-established, and few people now bother to dispute it. He has been lying to Congress' face about the NSA scandal since it first emerged in December of 2005. When he first testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee in February, 2006, he made a series of statements that turned out to be so obviously false that he was forced to send a lengthy letter "correcting" and retracting many of the key answers he gave.That is what Alberto Gonzales does. He lies to protect the President.
Gonzales' tall tales need their own special investigator.