Feingold to Gonzales: "You've got some 'splainin to do"

Senator Feingold charged yesterday that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales intentionally misled the Senate during his confirmation hearing a year ago when he avoided answering questions about the possibility of warrantless wiretapping of US citizens.

The Washington Post reported yesterday that Feingold: "demanded to know why Gonzales dismissed the senator's question about warrantless eavesdropping as a "hypothetical situation" during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in January 2005."

In fact, the President did authorize warrantless searches on US citizens post-9/11. According to the Post article, Gonzales -- who was White House counsel at the time the surveillance began -- "acknowledged his role in affirming the president's authority to launch the surveillance effort." The article concludes with a statement from Feingold, "It now appears that the Attorney General was not being straight with the Judiciary Committee and he has some explaining to do."

Gonzales is scheduled to testify Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee and will likely be asked to about the legal rationale behind the program.

This is a deception that begs the question, what else don't we know about? It's one thing to hoodwink our opponents, like Hitler at Normandy...but isn't it something else to hoodwink the American public as well? Or is it a necessary evil if we want to protect ourselves from terrorists and terror?

This again comes down to the same issue, how can we safeguard ourselves reasonably without sacrificing civil liberties?

Categories: Wiretaps, Legality