Gonzales lied to Congress, defense number 2

Yesterday we learned that Al Gonzales very likely lied to Congress when he said that there had been no abuses of civil liberties during his testimony seeking the renewal of the Patriot Act. The defense offered was that Gonzales was incompetent and hadn't read the half dozen reports before his testimony.

Today, we get reports that he did, in fact, have numerous and fairly specific conversations about this, while a Gonzales aide trots out a second "definitional" defense.

Two senior Justice Department officials said yesterday that they kept Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales apprised of FBI violations of civil liberties and privacy safeguards in recent years.....

Wainstein said Gonzales was saying only that there had been no intentional acts of misconduct, rather than the sorts of mistakes the FBI was self-disclosing. "That is why I cited the definition of 'abuse,' which in Webster's . . . implies some sort of intentional conduct. And I think that is sort of the common understanding of the word 'abuse,' " Wainstein said.

(I don't know why I'm blogging this, nothing changes. I guess it's some reflection of the world I'd like to live in where an Attorney General would be held responsible for commiting a felony by perjuring himself before Congress.

But, you know, that's just me dreaming again.....)