Congressmen tear into Gonzales over NSA wiretap 'stonewalling'

RAW STORY
Published: Thursday April 6, 2006

High-ranking Congressmen from both sides of the aisle slammed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at a House Judiciary Committee Hearing on the Department of Justice today, RAW STORY has learned.

Though repeatedly claiming that National Security Agency wiretapping programs were legal, Gonzales refused to provide details, stating that the issues being discussed were classified.

According to the Associated Press, Congressman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI,) started the hearing off on a confrontational note by asking, "How can we discharge our oversight if, every time we ask a pointed question, we're told the program is classified?" He later added that, in his opinion, Gonzales was "stonewalling" the inquiry.

Stating that he believes "our nation is on the verge of a full blown constitutional crisis," Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), went even further.

In prepared testimony made available to RAW STORY, Conyers scoffed at Gonzales: "You can't seriously expect Members of Congress to believe that the use of force resolution authorized domestic surveillance."

Conyers went on to quote the Attorney General as having said, "'It would have been difficult, if not impossible' to amend FISA to provide the wiretap authority."

Neither lawmaker seemed willing to give up efforts to secure Congressional oversight of the program.

In response to a question from Conyers, Gonzales reportedly said, "I do not think we are thumbing our nose at the Congress or the courts."

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