Did Alberto Gonzales outright lie to congress?

Question

He gave testimony yesterday that has been refuted not only by documentation, but the head of the FBI. I see perjury charges coming down the pipe.

I guess cons don't understand that lying under oath is a crime.

Lol, Ritch, hilarious, he did NOT testify on a matter of opinion. He was asked, did you discuss wiretapping at this meeting, he said NO he did not, then the memos given to the senators at the meeting showed up, and the FBI director said absolutely wiretapping was discussed. That is NOT opinion that is a contradiction of FACT.

Answer 1

Yup, downright lie. Period. End of story.

Answer 2

What, exactly, is Alberto Gonzales being accused of? The worst I came up with was this:

"But Gonzales took the toughest hits Thursday, when four Senate Democrats issued a list of examples of what they said was the attorney general lying to Congress under oath — the basis for their request to Clement to appoint a special counsel to investigate.

Among the Democrats' examples of Gonzales' untruthfulness was his emphatic and repeated statement to the Judiciary Committee Tuesday that his dramatic nighttime visit to the bedside of Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2004 was not related to an internal administration dispute about the president's secret warrantless eavesdropping program.

In his own sworn testimony Thursday, Mueller contradicted his boss, saying under questioning that the terrorist surveillance program (TSP) was the topic of the hospital room dispute between top Bush administration officials." (yahoo news)


Erm... that's it? Clinton did far worse (Juanita Broderick), and Sandy Berger stole documents by stuffing them into his jock strap.

Answer 3

well, yes. however some of the answerers have turned this into a party issue...do they oh so quickly forget that Clinton also lied under oath? (And BTW I love bill and am a dem myself) I just hate to see my kind looking petty out here in yahoo land.

Answer 4

He's one of those characters who try to avoid lying, but don't want to tell the truth. I think that he has gone out of his way to avoid giving a straight answer to the questions put to him. In doing so, he has contradicted himself to the point where perjury charges should be laid.

Answer 5

Which was the only reason that they wanted him to testify before congress. You do realize that they had every document, every meeting minute that was available and a staff of interns checking every word in an effort to try and catch him in some error that could be 'called' a lie don't you? You do realize that pretty much everything they're saying was a 'lie' is simply an opinion that Gonzalez holds that they refute don't you? You do realize that a difference of opinion does not constitute a lie don't you? Oh, wait, to Democrats a difference of opinion IS a lie. I recall so many of them shouting about how Bush lied after he made statements about Iraq that every foreign head of state and every major democrat had made. You do realize that all this was was a political stunt by the democrats in an effort to do anything possible to remove individuals from the Bush administration by what ever means possible don't you?

Is there any surprise to the fact that the congressional approval rating is down around 14%? Not to me. But ya'll keep going the way you're going. Can the polls go negative? We may soon find out.

Answer 6

Not only did he lie, he lied about lying. Isnt it funny that none of these people will give depositions under oath? Do they think that not being under oath is an excuse to lie?

Answer 7

Not necessarily.

Under the rules for testimony, witnesses are customarily allowed to review their oral statements and "correct" any mistakes in writing within a few days before it is part of the official record.

If Gonzales fails (or refuses) to "correct" many of his obvious mis-statements, then yes he would be subject to charges for perjury and contempt of congress.

Or, Gonzales may simply be so out of his depth, that he really doesn't have any clue what he did, or what his department did -- which is incompetence, but not perjury.

Answer 8

Yes, and he will have to pay for his crime.
Bush cannot pardon him, because his crime came about as a result of a congressional hearing either.

I just wanna see Rove testify and squirm as well. Unless he decides to be in contempt as well.

Answer 9

Since his name is not "Clinton", I doubt if any of the so called Conservatives will be up in arms that Gonzo lied. There seems to be a very big double standard when it comes to the "L" word.

Answer 10

Yes but who really thought he wasn't lying to begin with.

Answer 11

Yes he did and has been for months.