Conyers Seeks Mueller's Notes On March 2004 Gonzales-Ashcroft Meeting

Following an appearance today by FBI Director Robert Mueller, during which Mueller contradicted a statement by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales regarding a hugely controversial intelligence program, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) wants any notes or records that Mueller has about a March 2004 hospital visit by Gonzales.

Mueller disclosed the existence of his notes on the March 10, 2004, meeting, during which Gonzales and former White House Chief of Staff visited then Attorney General John Ashcroft in the hospital in a bid to get Ashcroft to reauthorize an intelligence program that Deputy Attorney General James Comey, who was standing in for Ashcroft while he was hospitalized, was refusing to approve.

The issue of what was discussed in the hospital that day is critical because Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee that it was not a NSA warrantless eavesdropping program, referred to by the White House as the "Terrorist Surveillance Program." Democrats allege that it was in fact the TSP that was the topic of discussion and that Gonzales lied to the Senate panel, thereby committing perjury.

Mueller told the House Judiciary Committee that the NSA program was raised by Gonzales and Card, although he never mentioned the name "TSP."

Mueller also said he kept notes on the meeting because it was "out of the ordinary." Mueller said he has shared those notes with the FBI's general counsel and other aides.