Blitzer failed to challenge Snow's suggestion that Mueller did not contradict Gonzales
On the July 26 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer did not challenge White House press secretary Tony Snow's claim that there was no inconsistency between testimony by FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and that of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales over which surveillance program was discussed during a March 2004 confrontation in the hospital room of then-Attorney General John Ashcroft. Gonzales, who was White House counsel at the time, and another administration official went to the hospital to try to persuade Ashcroft to overrule then-Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey, who had refused to reauthorize the National Security Agency's (NSA) warrantless domestic wiretapping program. In his July 24 testimony, Gonzales told Congress that the "disagreement that occurred, and the reason for the visit to the hospital ... was about other intelligence activities. It was not about the terrorist surveillance program that the president announced to the American people." However, in a July 26 House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) asked Mueller whether the warrantless wiretapping program was discussed at the meeting, and Mueller replied that he "had an understanding" that Gonzales' hospital "discussion" with Ashcroft, which Mueller did not witness firsthand, was about an "NSA program that has been much discussed, yes." Nevertheless, after Blitzer said that Mueller was "contradicting what Alberto Gonzales says," he allowed Snow to respond, unchallenged: "Does Bob Mueller once use the phrase 'terrorist surveillance program'? I'll save you the wait. The answer is no."
From Mueller's July 26 testimony, in which he explained that he was not present for the confrontation but spoke with Ashcroft at the hospital after it had ended:
JACKSON LEE: So my question to you, first of all: Did you ever speak with either Mr. Gonzales or Mr. [Andrew] Card [White House chief of staff at the time] while they were at the hospital?
MUELLER: No, ma'am.
JACKSON LEE: And if you did not do that, did any of your agents speak to those individuals?
MUELLER: I don't believe so. We -- I arrived at the hospital after Mr. Gonzales and Mr. Card had left.
JACKSON LEE: The discussion -- and I don't know if you did arrive -- it was -- did you have an opportunity to talk to General [sic] Ashcroft or did he discuss what was discussed in the meeting with Attorney General Gonzales and the chief of staff?
MUELLER: I did have a brief discussion with Attorney General Ashcroft.
JACKSON LEE: I'm sorry?
MUELLER: I did have a brief discussion with Attorney General Ashcroft after I arrived.
JACKSON LEE: And did he indicate the details of the conversation?
MUELLER: I prefer not to get into conversations that I had with the attorney general. At the time I -- again, he was entitled to expect that our conversations --
JACKSON LEE: And I respect that. Could I just say, did you have an understanding that the discussion was on TSP?
MUELLER: I had an understanding that the discussion was on a NSA program, yes.
JACKSON LEE: I guess we use "TSP," we use "warrantless wiretapping," so would I be comfortable in saying that those were the items that were part of the discussion?
MUELLER: I -- it was -- the discussion was on a national -- a NSA program that has been much discussed, yes.
In contrast to Blitzer, MSNBC host Chris Matthews challenged Snow on the July 26 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, airing video from the hearing and asking, "What else could [Mueller] possibly mean besides the word 'yes?' " Blitzer aired a smaller portion of the video on the 4 p.m. ET hour of The Situation Room.
From the 5 p.m. ET hour of the July 26 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:
BLITZER: Here's the other battle you're facing right now involving the attorney general, Alberto Gonzales. They want -- some of the Democrats, members of the Judiciary Committee -- a special counsel to investigate whether he lied, whether he committed perjury, because some of the statements, they say, are being flatly contradicted not by Democrats, but by -- what? -- the former deputy attorney general, James Comey; the former director of national intelligence, John Negroponte; and a former colleague of yours at the White House, Monica Goodling, a senior staffer there.
What do you say to these charges that there are flat-out contradictions between what they have told Congress and what Alberto Gonzales has testified under oath about?
SNOW: Well, number one, we're confident of the veracity of the attorney general's testimony.
Number two --
BLITZER: Did the other three lie?
SNOW: Well, no. They don't necessarily have to have lied.
What's happened in some of these cases is that members have tried to bring into open session conversations about highly classified matters, and you've got to be very careful how you discuss them. And in some cases, it is perfectly possible to square the testimony.
I can't be the fact witness for all the conversations that took place. On the other hand, members of Congress know that they are asking about things that cannot be the subject of a complete and full answer in open session because it involves matters of high classification, and that creates a problem.
BLITZER: Now, here's the other problem the attorney general has. A stunning development today, the FBI director, Robert Mueller, also contradicting what Alberto Gonzales says.
SNOW: Well, a classic example of what I'm talking about, Wolf.
If you go back and you look at the transcript, you got a member of Congress talking about the terrorist surveillance program. Go back and look at the transcript.
Does Bob Mueller once use the phrase "terrorist surveillance program"? I'll save you the wait. The answer is no. He talks about "an NSA program." It's exactly what I'm talking about, which is that members of Congress are trying to create controversies about highly classified matters, some of which cannot, should not, and must not be discussed publicly. And it forces people to give very careful answers that could very easily be twisted by folks on the other side of the aisle.
BLITZER: Here is what a lot of Democrats are saying on the Hill. They're the majority right now. They remember when they were in the minority, when there was a Democrat in the building where you worked. That would be Bill Clinton.
From the July 26 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:
MATTHEWS: But first, White House press secretary Tony Snow. Tony, thank you very much for coming on tonight. You're a good guy to come on. But this is a tough day for you, it seems to me. How do you respond to the FBI director's statement contradicting the attorney general?
SNOW: Well, number one, he didn't contradict the attorney general. I'll tell you what's going on, Chris. And you're familiar with this. You've worked in the White House. There's an attempt right now on Capitol Hill to try to get members of this administration to talk in open session about highly classified matters. You will note that when the FBI director was questioned about the terrorist surveillance program, TSP, he did not answer about TSP, he talked about "an NSA program." There are a lot of classified matters at play here, and what's going on is members know absolutely well that they are asking about matters that cannot be answered fully in public session, and therefore, people are being very careful with their answers.
MATTHEWS: But he was very careful. When you watch this, I want you to listen. Everyone at home, watch this right now, and everyone can judge this for themselves. They don't have to listen to you or me. Watch everybody now and tell me whether you think that Mueller is saying to Congresswoman Jackson Lee that she's right in assuming that they're talking about the terrorist surveillance program particularly. Let's watch and listen.
[begin video clip]
JACKSON: You have an understanding that the discussion was on TSP?
MUELLER: I had an understanding that the discussion was on a NSA program, yes.
JACKSON LEE: I guess we use "TSP," we use "warrantless wiretapping," so would I be comfortable in saying that those were the items that were part of the discussion?
MUELLER: I -- it was -- the discussion was on a national -- a NSA program that has been much discussed, yes.
[end video clip]
MATTHEWS: Well, it seems to me, Tony, that watching this -- and I mean objectively -- he's saying to her, "Yes, you're right. It's the one that's been discussed for those last few days. --
SNOW: No, it --
MATTHEWS: -- It's what we're talking about."
SNOW: All I can tell you, Chris --
MATTHEWS: What else could he possibly mean besides the word "yes"?
Who's the bigger liar...Snow or Gonzalez? Snow is a little smoother, Gonzalez a little more blatant. Of course, Gonzalez knows that President Numbnuts will pardon him, so he has no fear. His job is to keep the Democrats flummoxed until Bush's term is over. This is likely to end up in the Supreme Court, and we know how those Troglodytes will rule. In the meantime, the Crime known as the Iraq War will probably go uninvestigated...and unpunished. Too bad.
What's "too bad" is the damage that's been done to our nation in the meantime.
Damage that will take decades to erase, if ever.
When anyone brings up the US Supreme Court, I want to yell out loud. The people Bush nominated will be there for decades. Reinquist was so scared by Bush that he tried to stay in the job until Bush left office, but death didn't let him.
I fear that you are correct about the Supreme Court. The damage is done. Even if Democrats hold the majority for years to come, the Religious Right Troglodytes may get the last laugh.
Nomo "Reinquist was so scared by Bush that he tried to stay in the job until Bush left office, but death didn't let him." He should have thought of that before he gave him the job.
Just like many others, he was fooled and thought that Bush couldn't be as sleazy and as incompetent as he turned out to be.
I don't blame too many Republicans for not knowing how bad Bush was going to be.
Nomo
If the Republicans didn't know, it was because they didn't want too. The evidence was there from his no show National Guard duty, Poppy's friends bailout of his business', the SEC investigation (Harken) that again Poppy got squelched to his buddies at Enron and his making fun of executing a woman. Now that said, the Republicans can nominate whoever they want it was the failures of the MSM that hurt the rest of us (not that I voted for this clown, so my conscience is clear).
glad to see Tweety doing a good job on this one.
It'd be better if he called Snow a lying jack-ass, or an American version of Baghdad Bob or asked Snow, how is it that only professional liars can cover for other professional liars. But short of that, yes tweety did a good job.
This story involves a member of the administration turbo-weaseling like a coked-up strip-mall shyster...
... I"m sorry, I lost track of my point.
Yea, it makes my head spin too. But then thats the whole point isn't it. As long as they can spin it just enough to convence the rightwingnuts that everyone else is not telling the whole story becasue of "security reasons" then Snow earns his pay.
Flat Logic
This tactic of hiding behind a possibility is typical Republican misdirection. Tony Snow is trying to "snow" the American people. He's selling fried ice cream and he knows who will buy it. Snow is also releasing talking points for their biggest and most successful deflection and that is reducing this issue to a debate. so it can be considered a difference in opinion.
When the issue is this complex, most loyal Republicans and not so loyal Republicans fall back on their ability to be in lock step as a united Party. One of the objective for the Democrats should be to make this issue simple before the American people. Keeping it simple will stop people like Snow from lying to the American people on national TV.
What Snow is using is hypothetical logic that fits withing a given, usually provided by the speaker, frame of reference. I like to call it the "what if" defense. No matter what defense they use, I have a feeling they are going to lose points on this one. Simply put, the American people can clearly see a liar when they see one and Gonzales fit the bill just fine.
Joseph
News flash: Blitzer unable to navigate through Snow job. Santa should retire him for Rudolph!