"Sir, the client here is the president of the United States."

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was dodging questions from Senator Charles Schumer of New York when he responded to an inquiry about the limits on testimony by former Justice Department officials by saying, "Sir, the client here is the president of the United States."

The subject was the NSA's secret electronic surveillance of people inside the United States without the authorization of any court. The attorney general appeared to be trying to reserve all possible privileges so that the president may later claim them to prohibit current and former officials from answering the U.S. Senate's questions.

Instead, what the attorney general did was expose the fundamental flaw in the adminstration's argument that the wiretapping program is carefully and regularly reviewed by teams of lawyers at the NSA, the Justice Department, and in the White House Counsel's office.

"The client here is the president of the United States."

The attorney general is not the president's lawyer. He's the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. If Alberto Gonzales thinks his client is the president, and everyone who works under him in the Justice Department thinks the client is the president, and White House Counsel Harriet Miers thinks the client is the president, and the lawyers at the NSA can all be fired by the White House, then what they claim is a careful review of the legality of the surveillance program is in fact a collective chorus of "Yes, SIR!"

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales gave the game away. And he wasn't even under oath.


Copyright 2006

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