Leahy demands written answers from Gonzales, rebukes Attorney General for delays
 Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) today rebuked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for not responding in a timely manner to requests made three months ago for written answers to questions.
"At our last oversight hearing with you on January 18, 2007, you apologized for the tardiness with which you had provided written responses to questions that had been outstanding for six months," Leahy wrote. "Regrettably, the Committee has yet to receive answers from the written questions sent to you in connection with that January 18th hearing."
Leahy admonished Gonzales for "repeating the practice of not responding in a timely manner" and only responding when "a hearing appearance approaches."
The Senator requested that Gonzales supply a written testimony to the committee that includes "a full and complete account of the development of the plan to replace United States Attorneys, and all the specifics of your role in connection with that matter."
Leahy concludes the letter, "You would not tolerate this kind of response time in a Justice Department investigation where months go by without answers and when those answers are finally provided they are outdated or superseded by events. That is not conducive to effective oversight."
A copy of the letter is below:
The Honorable Alberto Gonzales
Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Attorney General Gonzales:
You have agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 17, 2007. As you will recall, my staff had suggested earlier dates, in March and earlier in April, but you had declined those offers and suggested the 17th. The Committee set the hearing for that date to accommodate you.
In accordance with our Committee Rules, you are to file your written statement at least 48 hours in advance of the hearing. [Rule II. 2., Rules of Procedures, Senate Committee on the Judiciary.] Please include in your written testimony a full and complete account of the development of the plan to replace United States Attorneys, and all the specifics of your role in connection with that matter. This information will be useful for the Committee and it could help expedite the questioning on that matter during the hearing. If you wished to do so, nothing prevents you from providing the Committee with your statement more than 48 hours in advance of the hearing.
At our last oversight hearing with you on January 18, 2007, you apologized for the tardiness with which you had provided written responses to questions that had been outstanding for six months. Regrettably, the Committee has yet to receive answers from the written questions sent to you in connection with that January 18th hearing. We are approaching three months since the last hearing, yet you and the Department seem to be repeating the practice of not responding in a timely manner. Instead, if you respond at all, you do so only as a hearing appearance approaches. Although the Committee was informed weeks ago to expect your answers to our questions on a rolling basis, we have yet to receive a single answer. Please ensure that the Committee receives your answers to the oversight questions from the January 18th hearing without further delay.
As I noted in a letter to you last month, the Committee had also not received answers to the questions we had propounded to the FBI Director following his appearance in December. We proceeded with a hearing on March 27th without the benefit of those answers. I had received a letter from his staff indicating that the Director had provided the Department of Justice with his responses to the questions propounded to him following his December appearance. It is now four months since those questions were propounded and we still do not have answers from the Department of Justice.
You would not tolerate this kind of response time in a Justice Department investigation where months go by without answers and when those answers are finally provided they are outdated or superseded by events. That is not conducive to effective oversight.
Sincerely,
PATRICK LEAHY
Chairman
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A PDF copy of the letter can be found here.
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