Gonzales Hires High-Powered Criminal Defense Lawyer

[Purveyor]

Source: Newsweek / HuffingtonPost

By Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball

Updated: 2 hours, 34 minutes ago

Oct. 10, 2007 - No sooner did Alberto Gonzales resign as attorney general last month than he retained a high-powered Washington criminal-defense lawyer to represent him in continuing inquiries by Congress and the Justice Department.

Gonzales’s choice of counsel, George Terwilliger—a partner at White & Case—is ironic if not surprising. A former deputy attorney general under the first President Bush, who later helped oversee GOP lawyers in the epic Florida recount battle of 2000, Terwilliger had been a White House finalist to replace Gonzales—only to be aced out at the last minute by retired federal judge Michael Mukasey.

The top concern for Gonzales, and now Terwilliger, is the expanding investigation by Glenn Fine, the Justice Department’s fiercely independent inspector general, according to three legal sources familiar with the matter who declined to speak publicly about ongoing investigations. Originally, Fine's internal Justice probe—conducted in conjunction with lawyers from the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility—focused on the mass dismissal of U.S. attorneys late last year. The investigation has since broadened to include, among other matters, charges that Gonzales lied to Congress about the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program and the circumstances surrounding his late-night March 10, 2004, visit to the hospital room of then attorney general John Ashcroft. At the same time, Congress is continuing to pursue more documents on harsh CIA interrogation techniques approved by Gonzales.

Fine’s investigators, who received high-level security clearances, have been interviewing key players involved in the now-famous bedside confrontation in Ashcroft's hospital room, according to the legal sources. During the visit that evening, Gonzales, then White House counsel, sought to persuade an ailing and heavily medicated Ashcroft to overrule department lawyers who had refused to sign off on classified surveillance activities ordered by President Bush because of concerns about their legality. A rash of senior Justice Department officials—including then deputy attorney general James Comey and FBI Director Robert Mueller—threatened to resign over the incident.




Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21224607/site/newsweek/

[LakeSamish706]

1. And no doubt yours and my tax $$$ are paying for this Lawyer! n/t

[evlbstrd]

2. No doubt?

Quite a leap.

[kansasblue]

3. Glenn who..... (wiki info)

Glenn Alan Fine (circa 1956— ) is the Inspector General of the United States Department of Justice, having been confirmed by the United States Senate on December 15, 2000. Prior to his appointment as Inspector General, Fine served the as Special Counsel to the Inspector General from January 1995 until 1996, when he was made Director of the OIG's Special Investigations and Review Unit.<1>


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_A._Fine

Investigation of Alberto Gonzales 2007

On August 30, 2007, the New York Times reported that Fine had sent a letter to Patrick Leahy, chairman of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, indicating that he was beginning an investigation into alleged wrongdoing by outgoing United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

[babylonsister]

4. Here's a good article on Fine:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/26/washington/26inspector.html

[napi21]

5. Hmmm, that's quite interesting. It would be very delicious if someone

from within the admin's own justice department hung the little weasel, now wouldn't it?

BTW, I doubt Terwilliger is being paid via your tax dollars "directly". I suspect it's much more likely that some of Shrub's buddies are footing the bill. Terwilliger is way too smart to have something that stupid screw up the case.

This COUL get VERY INTERESTING!

[cali]

18. Fine's a Clinton apointee. n/t

[blayne]

6. That is why Gonzo finally left at all;

he knew shit was about to hit the fans. Great news that this hasn't all been forgotten.

[Amonester]

23. "a talented and honorable person" - commander cookoo bananas

"sad that we live in a time when a talented and honorable person" is impeded...

hey hey hey

[Az_lefty]

7. "doin a hell of a job, Albert...

[hisownpetard]

8. This is the best news I've heard all day!! Hopefully, he knows something we don't, although

that would be highly unlikely, since Gonzales, in general, doesn't recall.

[Botany]

9. My guess is Perjury is what he is worried about.

Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in
a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. Perjury is a crime because the witness has sworn
to tell the truth and, for the credibility of the court, witness testimony must be relied on as being truthful. Perjury
is considered a serious offense as it can be used to usurp the power of the courts, resulting in miscarriages of justice.
In the United States, for example, the general perjury statute under Federal law provides for a prison sentence of up
to five years, and is found at 18 U.S.C. § 1621. See also 28 U.S.C. § 1746.
From Wiki.


Also Monica Goodling gave him up too.

[Beetwasher]

10. Any Sentencing Of Gonzo Must Be Delayed Until Chimpy Is Safely Out Of Office

Assuming there's a trial and conviction of course.

[Bitwit1234]

11. Oh it's one crook representing a bigger crook. Are you suprised.

[Jacobin]

12. I love it. He resigned to spend more time with his lawyers

:thumbsup:

[Kahuna]

13. Yeah baby! This is gonna be sooo good!

:popcorn:

[David Zephyr]

14. Ten to One that the fees will be funded through many channels by the Saudis

Count on it.

[annabanana]

15. Am I liking Glenn Fine?

Yes I AM liking Glenn Fine.

[cali]

19. The more you know about him the more you'll like him.

I've been liking him for the last couple of months- since he accepted Leahy's request that he investigate, and then expanded that investigation to cover, well, just about everything.

[DeepModem Mom]

16. K&R

[UTUSN]

17. Come on, Gonzo, FLIP on Shrub!!1 n/t

[ladywnch]

20. Alberto Gonzales hires defense attorney

Source: AP

WASHINGTON - Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has hired a high-powered Washington lawyer to represent him in investigations of mismanagement of the Justice Department. George Terwilliger, a white-collar crime defense attorney and the second-ranking Justice official in the early 1990s, was on the White House's short list last month to replace Gonzales.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071011/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/gonzales_attorney_10

[Gman]

21. Now here's an interesting quote:

"It would really be unfair to individuals who are smart enough to get themselves a lawyer to draw some inference that they need a lawyer because they did something wrong," Terwilliger said in an Associated Press interview.

I think if they're smart enough to hire a lawyer, they're smart enough to know when their ass is in a crack such as Gonzales'.

[rpannier]

22. I always thought the reichwing talking point was...

"Why do you need a lawyer if you've done nothing wrong and/or have nothing to hide?"

[Gman]

24. You don't just go see an oncologist

for no reason either.

[rodeodance]

25. Alberto Gonzales Hires Defense Attorney

Source: nyt




October 11, 2007
Alberto Gonzales Hires Defense Attorney
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 1:20 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has hired a high-powered Washington lawyer to represent him in investigations of mismanagement of the Justice Department. George Terwilliger, a white-collar crime defense attorney and the second-ranking Justice official in the early 1990s, was on the White House's short list last month to replace Gonzales.

Investigators are look into allegations that Gonzales lied to lawmakers and illegally allowed politics to influence hiring and firing at the department.

Terwilliger said Gonzales, a close friend of the president's and a former Texas Supreme Court justice, maintains he did nothing wrong or illegal, and that hiring an attorney should not signal any guilt.

''It would really be unfair to individuals who are smart enough to get themselves a lawyer to draw some inference that they need a lawyer because they did something wrong,'' Terwilliger said in an Associated Press interview............

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Gonzales-Attorney.html?pagewanted=print

---

good, this is hitting his pocketbook.

[lurky]

26. Terwilliger?

Any Relation?

[Ecumenist]

27. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA ..... AH

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....WHOO...TEE-HEE.. Um, welcome to DU Lurky!! Right glad to meetcha!!

[lurky]

34. Thanks!

[Suich]

28. Thank you for posting this!

Now I can go to bed happy!

:)

[Jemmons]

29. I guess that Monica Goodling was too busy to do it n/t

[tanyev]

33. Gonzo knows better than to hire a lawyer from Regent University

for his own personal defense.

[Not_Giving_Up]

30. Why does he need a lawyer if he's done nothing wrong?

I mean, that's the rethuglican way of thinking, right? Only guilty people ask for an attorney!

[Major Hogwash]

31. "Don't worry, Fredo, your pardon is in the mail" - Bush

Wasn't it the Bush 2000 campaign people who were all running around condemning the Democratic party as being the party for defense lawyers?

Now look who needs them!


Hahahahahahahaha!

[Duppers]

32. Terwilliger ......

"Terwilliger was among the legal experts who helped George W. Bush during the Florida recount in the contested presidential election of 2000."

Dirt.