Patrick Leahy Statement On Attorney General Misleading Senate Concerning Abuses Of NSLs

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WASHINGTON (Tuesday, July 10) - Below is Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy’s comment on reports that the Attorney General misled the Senate regarding the timing of his knowledge of widespread abuses by the FBI that resulted in violations of Americans’ privacy and civil liberties.

In addition to the comments the Attorney General’s provided to the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2005, detailed in The Washington Post story today, the Attorney General also failed to provide the Senate Judiciary Committee with the accurate information regarding the timing of his knowledge of abuses of National Security Letters (NSLs). In answers to questions posed by Chairman Leahy to the Attorney General following the Committee’s April 2007 oversight hearing, the Attorney General indicated that he first learned of the NSL abuses through drafts of the Office of Inspector General’s report on NSL abuses, just prior to the public release of that report in March 2007. The Judiciary Committee received the Attorney General’s answers last week.

“Each day seems to bring with it another example of this Administration’s troubling pattern of misleading or stonewalling Congress and the public.

“The reports today that the Attorney General misled Congress regarding violations of Americans’ privacy and civil liberties by his department are deeply disturbing and warrant further inquiry. In addition to the Attorney General’s misleading statements to the Senate Intelligence Committee prior to the reauthorization of the PATRIOT ACT, it appears the Attorney General also failed to disclose the truth about when he first knew of widespread abuses by the FBI of National Security Letters (NSLs) in questions I posed to him following his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year.

“Unfortunately, this Administration’s penchant for secrecy makes it difficult to work in a cooperative way, and it is only through dogged oversight or Freedom of Information Act lawsuits – such as the one that revealed these inconsistent statements – that Congress and the American people learn the truth about this Administration’s activities.

“This inconsistency is a disturbing addition to a growing list of misleading answers by the Attorney General to questions from the Judiciary Committee, and it is unacceptable. I intend to pursue this matter with the Attorney General prior to his appearance before the Judiciary Committee later this month.”

Source: Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy