Alberto Gonzales exonerates self, then thinks twice

In an interview with the New York Times, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales claimed that the various internal Justice Department and federal grand jury investigations of him were complete  and that investigators had found that he had nothing wrong.  The only problem with what Gonzales claimed was that it was not true at all–  a point he himself inadvertently conceded moments later.

In response to a  question as to what Gonzales would tell students about a petition signed by 70 professors at Texas Tech, where Gonzales will teach, protesting his hiring because of questions about his “ethical failings”, Gonzales claimed that Justice Department investigators had cleared him.

Here was the exact back and forth between writer Deborah Solomon and Gonzales:

Q:  Some 70 professors at Texas Tech have signed a petition that protests your appointment and cites your “ethical failings,” including misleading Congress abut the firing of nine federal prosecutors. What will you tell your students about that?

A: All the inspector-general investigations, they’re now over with. They found that I had not engaged in any criminal wrongdoing.

But when the Solomon asked Gonzales– in the very next question– about a special prosecutor investigating the firings of nine U.S. attorneys, Gonzales said he could not comment because there was still an “ongoing investigation” of the matter– directly contradicting what he had said moments earlier.

Once again, the exact back and forth:

Q: Isn’t there still an ongoing investigation by a special prosecutor who was appointed last year to look into the removal of the attorneys?

A: I wish I could comment on that, but because it’s an ongoing investigation, I cannot.

As Gonzlaes concedes, a  federal grand jury, in fact,  is currently investigating the firings of the nine U.S. attorneys.

And in the meantime,  Justice Department investigators continue to probe Gonzales’ role and that of other Bush administration officials in regards to the administration’s warantless surveillance program.

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