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(Washington, DC) -- Today, at the House Judiciary Committee testimony of Attorney General Gonzales, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz grilled Gonzales over a statement he made on December 19, 2005 that the Department of Justice didn't run the NSA wiretapping program past Congress because they didn't think they'd get approval.
"When my kids choose to do something without asking me first, because they're afraid I will say no, that doesn't make it O.K. to do it," said Rep. Wasserman Schultz who has three children under the age of seven.
The Attorney General did not deny the statement; in fact, he confirmed that he consulted with unnamed members of the Congressional leadership who indicated that they thought that the Republican controlled Congress would not approve DOJ's NSA wiretap program recommendations.
On December 19, 2005 Attorney General Gonzales made the following statement in response to a question at a press conference: "That question was asked earlier. We've had discussions with members of Congress, certain members of Congress, about whether or not we could get an amendment to FISA, and we were advised that that was not likely to be -- that was not something we could likely get, certainly not without jeopardizing the existence of the program, and therefore, killing the program. And that -- and so a decision was made that because we felt that the authorities were there, that we should continue moving forward with this program."
(Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/12/20051219-1.html )
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