Gonzales Said He Didn't Lie, Leahy Not Convinced

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told Senate Democrats today that he did not lie to them in a recent appearance about the NSA's warrantless eavesdropping program and  whether there were internal White House fights over the program, but Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) still isn't convinced and wants a further explanation. Leahy has threatened to seek a perjury probe of Gonzales.

In a letter to Leahy today, Gonzales said he was accurate when he said the "Terrorist Surveillance Program," which President Bush publicly confirmed in Dec. 2005, after its existence was disclosed by The New York Times, was not the source of any legal fight between the Justice Dept. and White House.

Gonzales' statement conflicts with testimony by former Deputy Attorney General James Comey, who told senators that Gonzales, then White House counsel, and former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card in March 2004, tried to get a hospitalized former Attorney General John Ashcroft to overrule Comey and reauthorize the TSP.

FBI Director Robert Mueller also testified about the TSP dispute, saying there was only one program, which Bush disclosed in Dec. 2005, and that there was in fact a dispute over it.