That's what Sen. Patrick Leahy, Vermont Democrat, told Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales this morning in a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing.
Mr. Leahy, who chairs the panel, went after Mr. Gonzales in his opening statement for the attorney general's handling of the U.S. Attorneys firings and civil liberties abuses by the FBI.
Mr. Leahy said he doubts the sincerity of Mr. Gonzales' vow to fix "problems" at the Justice Department.
"Is he committed to corrective action?" Mr. Leahy said. "His lack of independence and tendency to act as if he were the president's lawyer ... makes that doubtful."
Mr. Leahy also criticized Mr. Gonzales' promise to better police the use of counter-terrorism information gathering tools as insufficient.
"With a history of civil liberties abuses and cover-ups, this administration has squandered our trust," Mr. Leahy said.
"I don't trust you," Mr. Leahy said to Mr. Gonzales.
Ranking Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, of Pennsylvania, also said that "a very heavy cloud" hangs over the Justice Department.
"We have so many items that every week a new issue arises," Mr. Specter said. "Is your department functioning?"
Mr. Gonzales did not respond to any of these criticisms in his opening statement, but instead asked the panel to help the Justice Department fight terrorism.
-- Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times
Comments (6)
As a Hispanic American, I very much resent Sen. Patrick Leahy using our first ever Mexican-American U.S. Attorney General as a punching bag for no other reason than to disgrace him and President Bush. The Attorney General has done nothing wrong. And Leahy's bashing of Mr. Gonzales is nothing but a mean-spirited witch-hunt typical of the Democrats. (Since they cannot lead nor legislate, this is the best they can do.) The only reason that Leahy is getting away with this is because there are few to none Hispanics in Vermont. And he doesn't have to answer for it to anyone. This attitude borders on racism. And I have nothing but contempt for Patrick Leahy.
Posted by Joseph Melendrez | July 24, 2007 12:40 PM
I fully agree that there are problems in the Justice Department, but Senator Leahy is in no position to talk abut trust or anything else. His state is one of political corruptness and poor judges. I think one wuld take care of his own problems instead of creating more in time of terrorism. We do have a lot of far left loberal losers in our government that is the real truth.
Posted by Chuck Hoffmann | July 24, 2007 12:41 PM
We have to take back our democracy before these people turn the US of A into a third world dictatorship. There are enough right wing whackos, particularly in Texas where these creatures were spawned, to make that happen.
Posted by oskar | July 24, 2007 12:44 PM
How much longer must the American public be subjected to this liar testifying that he will rebuild our trust?
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Enough is enough!
Posted by marty | July 24, 2007 4:14 PM
"I don't trust you" sounds a little harsh doesn't it? Unfortunately it appears as if Mr. Gonzales has given anyone other than Mr. Bush reason to trust him. His answers are almost always evasive and those he's been caught out in being less than truthful he goes back and has a spokesperson try and correct his original answer but he doesn't even bother to read what his own spokesperson says? That is unlike any attorney I have every met or heard of. He's either one of the poorest attorneys to be admitted to any bar or he's much less truthful than feared.
Mr. Gonzales has said that he's going to stay and "fix" the problems at the Justice Department - unfortunately it appears as if it is he who is the problem. His comment "I never quit a job" is meant to sound strong and commanding - instead it sounds childishly stubborn.
Posted by K. Carroll | July 24, 2007 8:15 PM
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black... Patrick Leahy has done nothing in his career to advance dialogue, honesty, ethics or any other decent action to foster serious debate in Congress. If being an obstructionist curmudgeon is the pinnacle of success for an elected official, then Patrick Leahy has certainly achieved that...
Posted by Jim Leonard | July 25, 2007 8:35 PM