by Paul Kiel - A report out today from the Justice Department’s inspector general says Alberto Gonzales mishandled classified documents on a number of occasions during his tenure as attorney general, violating “basic Department regulations and procedures.” The violation was so severe that Inspector General Glenn Fine referred the matter to the Department’s National Security Division for possible prosecution, but prosecutors there declined to pursue the matter, according to the report (PDF). The 32-page report focuses mainly on Gonzales’ handling of his notes of a March 10, 2004, meeting with congressional leaders regarding the NSA’s surveillance program. Investigators found that Gonzales, after being sworn in as attorney general, had taken the notes from his White House office to his house, but didn’t store them in a secure safe because he didn’t know the combination. And when he returned to the Justice Department, he did not store them in the required special facility for top secret information. Read more... ...
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by Paul Kiel - A report out today from the Justice Department’s inspector general says Alberto Gonzales mishandled classified documents on a number of occasions during his tenure as attorney general, violating “basic Department regulations and procedures.” The violation was so severe that Inspector General Glenn Fine referred the matter to the Department’s National Security Division for possible prosecution, but prosecutors there declined to pursue the matter, according to the report (PDF). The 32-page report focuses mainly on Gonzales’ handling of his notes of a March 10, 2004, meeting with congressional leaders regarding the NSA’s surveillance program. Investigators found that Gonzales, after being sworn in as attorney general, had taken the notes from his White House office to his house, but didn’t store them in a secure safe because he didn’t know the combination. And when he returned to the Justice Department, he did not store them in the required special facility for top secret information. Read more... ...