Gonzales Defends Bush; Distorts Clinton Record!

This is the Attorney General of the United States, Alberto Gonzales.

This is his "Oath of Office":

"I(name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

The Attorney General is our nation's top law enforcement officer. He is bound to understand and enforce the laws.

On "Larry King Live", Gonzales said:

""It's my understanding that during the Clinton administration there was activity regarding physical searches without warrants."

Gonzales also said that it was his understanding that, "the deputy attorney general testified before Congress that the president does have the inherent authority under the Constitution to engage in physical searches without a warrant. And so, those would certainly seem to be inconsistent with what the former vice president was saying today."

As Media Matters has pointed out, this distortion of the record was also repeated by Drudge, President Clinton issued EXECUTIVE ORDER 12949 on physical searches without warrants.

But within that ORDER is

"Section 1. Pursuant to section 302(a)(1) of the Act, the
Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a
court order, to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of
up to one year, if the Attorney General makes the certifications
required by that section."

But within that section 302(a)(1) [50 U.S.C. 1822(a)] of the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance] Act is the following:

"(ii) there is no substantial likelihood that the physical search will involve the premises, information, material, or property of a United States person"

And to once again quote the observant Media Matters:

"The entire controversy about Bush's program is that, for the first time ever, allows warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens and other people inside of the United States. Clinton's 1995 executive order did not authorize that."

Please don't talk about President Clinton Mr. Gonzales.

Let's talk about President Bush and your behavior.

Matters of history are important. But matters of law apply to you and President Bush. And America cannot tolerate violations of law, high crimes and misdemeanors, by our elected officials.

Bob