Who will Gonzales protect?

Although Alberto Gonzales' role in crafting the controversial "torture memos" has understandably taken center stage in his confirmation hearings for US Attorney General, his role in suppressing whistleblower protections should not be ignored.  Whistleblowers help keep America safer by pointing out dangers and security lapses, reporting fraud, and in general seeking to inform the public so to solve problems that fester in secrecy.  From a POGO press release in November:

"Within hours of signing the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley legislation to fight corporate fraud, President Bush attempted to severely narrow which whistleblowers would be covered by the Act. White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales defended the narrowed interpretation when Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) protested the attempt to undermine whistleblower protections they had authored.

Ultimately, the White House backed down on its narrowed interpretation of the Act."

Perhaps during Gonzales' confirmation hearing someone should ask him about this egregious attempt to weaken our nation's security.

Congress should also ask Gonzales whether he will utilize the "Reopener" provision in the Exxon Valdez oil spill case (settled in 1991).  The spill caused immense environmental and economic damage to Alaska.  This provision would allow the government to get compensation for unanticipated long-term damages that only now, after years of scientific research, can be proven.  But the Justice Department must act before the provision expires in 2006. 

Is Gonzales willing to hold Exxon Mobil accountable for its irresponsible actions?  And will he lead a Justice Department friendly to whistleblowers?  Who will Gonzales protect?  Congress needs to ask these questions.

Comments

[Posted on: May 30, 2006 at 08:04 PM]

looks like an update is running on June 1, 2006 at 5 PM on WSBTV Atlanta Channel 2, on whatever happened to William King OIG DOJ Agent in Atlanta.

[Posted on: Jun 14, 2005 at 10:22 AM]

What is sad about this DEpartment of Justice Office of Inspector General (DOJ OIG) situation is that they hold the rest of the DOJ community to the highest standars,a nd always seem to find fault with the employees and agencies they police. But when it comes to dispense justice to one of their own, they lack credibility, a lot. This article ran on the 6 oclock news, and was seen by million of people nationwide since April 28, 2005, and this man remais in charge of the Atlanta office, still managing investigations on the FBI, prosecuttors and any other case in DOJ jurisdiction. Where is the accountability?
If the news report is accurate, Bill King committed a Federal Felony by falsifying the vehicle logs, (18USC1001).

[Posted on: May 10, 2005 at 09:07 PM]

Here is an interesting story that came out a couple of weeks ago. I understand the man they are talking about, Bill King, is still gainfully employed, driving the same government car, and unpunished. The reporter had requested basic records to account for this man' time, and DOJ refused. The DOJ OIG is the watchdog group for all of the Justice dept, including the FBI. Something is wrong here.

Federal Agent's Conduct Draws Fire
Probe Finds Questionable Practices
Richard Belcher, Channel 2 Action News
ATLANTA -- A Whistleblower 2 investigation has found that a top federal agent in Atlanta regularly violates the very kind of government rules that he is supposed to enforce.
The Inspector General's Office of the U.S. Justice Department has the power to investigate misconduct by thousands of federal employees. But it is not clear that anyone is policing the man in charge here.
The Office of Inspector General looks over the shoulder of everyone in the Justice Department, from correctional officers to prosecutors.
But we found that the special agent who runs the inspector general's Atlanta office appears to be violating rules that would get other employees in potentially serious trouble.
Cameras caught Special Agent Bill King walking to his government-issued vehicle, tossing his gear in the back seat and driving away at nearly 7 p.m. one evening last February.
It seems inconsequential, but King seems to be flagrantly violating one of the clearly stated rules he's paid more than $100,000 a year to enforce.
Paul Benners retired last year as a special agent who worked in the Atlanta inspector general's office. He says it's an integrity issue. Before retiring, he said he complained to the top brass in Washington, D.C., that King was violating department policies.
"It's very clear that the vehicle is strictly for government use and for our normal and routine commute," Benners said. "Nothing else."

Also, he said that agents sign a document in which they agree to the policy.

Channel 2 Action News obtained a log in which King claimed to have placed his car out of service at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 2. It appears that the log amounted to two violations in a single day.

He falsely reported the time he put the car out of service, and he drove it to his second job, where he served as a referee as a high school basketball game in northeast Atlanta.

Benners characterized it as "outright misuse of a government vehicle."

On Jan. 14, King claimed that he used his government vehicle until 6 p.m.

But that evening, Channel 2 Action News videotape showed him refereeing another game in Alpharetta, an assignment for which he had to be at the school by 5 p.m.

His government car was not visible that night, but given how backed up rush hour traffic toward Alpharetta can be, King appears to have placed another false entry on his vehicle log.

But those aren't the only questionable entries about the car, which is provided by taxpayer dollars.

Documents obtained by Channel 2 Action News show that King claimed to drive the vehicle between 25 and 30 miles round trip from his home in Buckhead and the Sam Nunn Federal Building in downtown Atlanta.

The trip is actually just over 15 miles, so the federal agent charged with policing other federal employees appears to routinely overstate his own mileage by as much as 88 percent.

Said Benners: "It would seem to me that what's occurring is that the mileage above his round-trip is a cushion in there for possible misuse or failure to account for the use of the vehicle."

When approached by Channel 2 Action News one morning outside his home, King declined comment about the report.

Under federal laws and other U.S. regulations, the misuse of a government vehicle should result, at a minimum, in a 30-day suspension without pay.

Officials at the Justice Department did not respond to a written request for comment.

[Posted on: Jan 08, 2005 at 11:08 AM]

Regarding confirmation of Gonzales, two matters deserve attention, but have been largely overlooked in the news media.

Texans for Public Justic (www.tpj.org) reports that Gonzales wrote an opinion hostile to whistleblowers while he was a judge on the Texas Supreme Court. TPJ writes:

"Gonzales penned Southwestern Refining v. Bernal, eliminating class actions for victims of mass torts. He also authored Fort Worth v. Zimlich, exhibiting great distrust of juries and dislike of whistlebower protections. These decisions reflect the thinking of Gonzales' political benefactor, Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR). Among other things, TLR bequeathed a single check of $20,000 to Gonzales in the middle of the campaign even though Gonzales faced only token opposition."

More recently, the White House has expressed its opposition to the latest proposal for strengthening whistleblower protections for federal employees, claiming it constitutes undue interference with the President's authority. Gonzales should be questioned regarding his input, as White House Counsel, to that decision.

[Posted on: Jan 06, 2005 at 05:48 PM]

I concur with the article on " who will Gonzalez protect". It seems to me that Judge Alberto Gonzalez is only a sounding board for superiors at the White House and that he is incapable of making independent and judicious decisions. Further, we have now come to know the lame legal opinions he made regarding side stepping the Geneva Convention. Thus, is is clear that he is one of the like-minded co-horts that are vent on eroding rules, regulations and laws that benefit the public and especially, federal employees.

Joseph L. Sanchez
josephchez@yahoo.com