Gonzales Still Lying To Congress

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales continues his history of lying to Congress . Members keep their record of impotence in not slapping him down.

WASHINGTON - Alberto Gonzales denied Tuesday that he and former White House chief of staff Andy Card tried during to pressure a hospitalized Attorney General John Ashcroft to recertify President Bush’s domestic eavesdropping program.

But lawmakers continued to press for answers from a recalcitrant White House, with one senior Republican raising the prospect of a special prosecutor to probe areas where Bush has blocked Congress.

“The constitutional authority and responsibility for congressional oversight is gone,” said Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the Judiciary Committee’s ranking Republican. “If that is to happen, the president can run the government as he chooses, answer no questions.”

Glaring at Gonzales just a few feet away at the witness table, Specter declared, “The attorney general has the authority to appoint a special prosecutor.” He added later that a special prosecutor would be one of several options to consider months from now, if the Senate cites Bush administration officials with contempt of Congress.

Democrats weren’t likely to stand in the way.

“I don’t trust you,” Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told Gonzales, who succeeded Ashcroft as attorney general.