Alberto Gonzales

March 2, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- The Department of Justice today released two previously undisclosed Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memoranda and seven previously undisclosed opinions.

"Americans deserve a government that operates with transparency and openness," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "It is my goal to make OLC opinions available when possible while still protecting national security information and ensuring robust internal executive branch debate and decision-making."    » read more »

The court's latest rebuke of Guantanamo Bay won't close the prison down. But it's a step toward curbing Bush's unilateral tactics.

Jun. 13, 2008 | For the third time in four years, the U.S. Supreme Court has slammed the Bush administration's detention policies at Guantánamo Bay – locking up terrorist suspects indefinitely and beyond the law.

Guantanamo protesters, London: Photo by Val Kerry (CC)    » read more »

June 12, 2008 -- Chicago, IL - "Today's Supreme Court decision ensures that we can protect our nation and bring terrorists to justice, while also protecting our core values. The Court's decision is a rejection of the Bush Administration's attempt to create a legal black hole at Guantanamo - yet another failed policy supported by John McCain.

Barack Obama mural, Brooklyn: Photo by Shira Golding (CC)    » read more »

United States Senate Judiciary Committee Executive Session

November 6, 2007 -- (As Prepared for Delivery)    » read more »

November 5, 2007 -- Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and law enforcement officials from four other states have asked the U.S. Senate to reject retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that let the federal government snoop on private telephone calls without warrants.

Blumenthal, with the Vermont, Maine and New Jersey attorneys general and the Missouri public safety commissioner, submitted testimony last week to the Senate Judiciary Committee urging it to reject immunity.    » read more »

Des Moines, IA (October 5, 2007): Yesterday, reports in the New York Times revealed that the Bush Administration authorized U.S. personnel to torture detainees and subject them to inhumane interrogation techniques. The authorization came in the form of secret Justice Department memoranda issued by new Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in 2005, just months after the Department had publicly withdrawn a prior memo condoning torture, stating, "Torture is abhorrent both to American law and values and to international norms."    » read more »

Oct 5, 2007 -- Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Today, Senator John Edwards made the following statement regarding President Bush’s claim that his administration has not tortured terrorism suspects, despite the revelation of secret Justice Department memos authorizing the CIA’s harshest interrogation techniques including waterboarding and the use of frigid temperatures:    » read more »

Gonzales And Administration Officials Should Be Investigated

(New York, October 4, 2007) – Reports of two new “torture memos” underscore the need for the next US attorney general to declassify and repudiate secret government legal opinions that permit abusive interrogations, Human Rights Watch said today.

Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey, whose confirmation hearings are upcoming, should not be confirmed unless he repudiates legal opinions that justify or defend abusive interrogation or detention techniques, Human Rights Watch said.    » read more »

October 04, 2007 -- Chicago, IL -- Barack Obama today released the following statement in response to the new report in the New York Times this morning about the Bush administration's secret authorization of brutal interrogation techniques. For full story, click here:    » read more »

October 4, 2007 -- Washington, DC – Today’s news revealed the Justice Department produced secret memos condoning the use of torture and other abusive interrogation techniques on detainees. U.S. Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) asked his colleagues to join him in condemning not only the Administration’s duplicity with Congress and the American people, but also its policy permitting torture. He reiterated his call for the Senate to support his legislation, which prohibits the torture, abuse, or mistreatment of any detainee in United States custody.    » read more »

September 17, 2007 -- THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. I'm pleased to announce my nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey to be the 81st Attorney General of the United States. Judge, thank you for agreeing to serve.

The Attorney General serves as our nation's chief law enforcement officer. The Attorney General has an especially vital role to play in a time of war, when we face the challenges -- and we face the challenge of protecting our people on a daily basis from deadly enemies, while at the same time protecting our freedom.    » read more »

August 30, 2007 -- “I am pleased that Department of Justice Inspector General Glenn Fine will look into my concerns about potentially false, misleading or inappropriate testimony by the Attorney General. I look forward to the Inspector General’s findings on the unprecedented firings of nine United States Attorneys, the improper political hiring of career officials within the Justice Department, the misuse of National Security Letters, and the efforts to bypass the Department’s finding that a warrantless surveillance program was without legal basis.    » read more »

02 September 2007 -- Two leading members of the U.S. Senate are calling on President Bush to name a new Attorney General who will restore a sense of integrity to the beleaguered Justice Department. The current Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned last week, ending a controversial 2.5-year run as the chief U.S. law enforcement officer.

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Senator Patrick Leahy, said he is pleased that the Department of Justice's inspector general is looking into whether outgoing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales gave false testimony to Congress while under oath.    » read more »

August 28, 2007 -- With the resignation of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the NAACP urges President George W. Bush to nominate an individual with a real commitment to the protection and promotion of civil rights for all Americans. Areas that have been largely ignored over the last six years include voting rights, employment rights, police misconduct and housing discrimination.    » read more »

WASHINGTON (Wednesday, Aug. 29) – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Wednesday invited President Bush to consult with Senate leaders in choosing his nominee for the post of Attorney General.

The text of Leahy’s letter to President Bush follows.

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August 29, 2007

The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:    » read more »