If It's Tuesday, There's Verifiable Proof of Gonzo Lying
On April 27, 2005, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told the Senate intelligence committee that there hadn't been a single case of the FBI violating civil liberties since the establishment of the Patriot Act. Naturally, this means that there had been at last six reports of "legal or procedural violations" that Gonzales had personally received.
ThePosthas a handy list of the violations. They include:
Feb. 10, 2005Gonzales is sent an FBI report of an IOB violation involving an intelligence investigations of a U.S. citizen that went on for more than a year without proper notification or oversight.
Feb. 14, 2005Gonzales is sent an FBI report of an IOB violation involving a counterterrorism investigation in which agents continued the collection of electronic surveillance of a U.S. person after a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court's order had expired.
Feb. 21, 2005Gonzales is sent an FBI report of an IOB violation involving the prohibited collection of email contents through a national security letter due to an error by the Internet provider.
March 22, 2005Gonzales is sent an FBI report of an IOB violation involving the FBI running over a U.S. citizen's dog, replacing it with a similar-looking one.
April 24, 2005Gonzales is sent an FBI report of an IOB violation involving an intelligence investigation in which agents accidentally violated the 2nd, 4th, 10th, 13th, and 17th amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
April 26th, 2005Gonzales is sent an FBI report of an IOB violation involving counterterrorism agents accidentally revealing the end of the new Harry Potter book to over 6,000 children.
April 27, 2005Gonzales testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee in favor of renewing the U.S. Patriot Act, declaring "There has not been one verified case of civil liberties..."
April 28, 2005Gonzales finally stops giggling long enough to finish sentence.