Waxman and Condi live this morning

CSPAN is providing us with Waxman's oversight committee's hearing this morning. Ms. Rice, our ..cough..illustrious SOS is the guest. You can listen via your computer here. CSPAN3 has the hearing on cable.

Mr. Waxman has graciously provided a live feed on the Committee website here.

Edit: I forgot..TPMmuckraker also provides us with wonderful recaps of the hearing as they are available AND on YouTube, here is the first of hopefully many this morning:



Crossposted at Bring it On!

Today is Monica-day up on Capitol Hill

Around 7 AM pacific time TODAY..the hearing will commence my dear reader.The House Hearing with Former White House Liaison for the DoJ, Monica Goodling will be available on TV via CSPAN3. If your at work or outside the U.S., you can watch it online at the CSPAN website here. If your workplace has scrooge-like qualities and you can't watch streaming video..then you can listen to the proceedings via CSPAN radio here.

Also, TPMmuckraker will provide us with the important grilling, I mean questioning via their live-blogging AND YouTube videos..God, I simply love them for that. I will probably post them here as the hearing progresses. I CAN NOT WAIT for Henry Waxman to get his shot at her, it better be worth the build-up and the hype. She is already trying to withhold documents..DoJ documents I might add.

So pop some popcorn, get comfy if you can and lets see what this witch has to say, after all..they had to cough up immunity to get this bible-thumping, wannabe lawyer to testify.

Tags: Politics, GonzoGate, Monica Goodling

Gonzo in the hot seat again..watch the best questioning of the day

Well, so far its the best line of questioning. From TPMmuckraker, they are once again liveblogging the event:

Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC) gets the medal for the best line of questioning of the day so far, pressing Gonzales on the reason for John McKay's firing.

Gonzales has previously pointed to McKay's touting of an information sharing system (a system that former Deputy Attorney General James Comey praised effusively during his hearing last week) and his choice to speak to the press about his office's lack of resources to explain McKay's firing. But as Rep. Watt pointed out, McKay appeared on the firing list far before either of those things became issues.

When Watt pressed Gonzales on whether McKay had been removed because he'd failed to indict Democrats on voter fraud charges. Gonzales said no, but seemed to leave the door open for that possibility:

Yes, I agree that if in fact there was pressure put on McKay to investigate a case, which didn’t warrant an investigation [that would be improper]. But obviously there may be some circumstances where investigation may have been warranted. We’d have to look at the circumstances of the particular case.

He added that there had been "a great deal of concern with his efforts with respect to voter fraud," that he had received letters "from a number of groups and outside parties."

McKay has said that he didn't pursue criminal charges in the probe arising from the 2004 Washington gubernatorial election because there was "no evidence."

TPM has a whole series of YouTube vid's on today's hearing..watch them all here.

Waxman sets up hearing to address a slew of subpoenas

From RollCall(subscription required) via TruthOut:

Waxman Sets Hearing to Consider Batch of Subpoenas
By Paul Singer
Roll Call

Friday 20 April 2007

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is ginning up the subpoena mill, scheduling a meeting next week to consider subpoenas in four different investigations of the Bush administration.

Waxman sent four letters today to Republican officials explaining that because the committee has not received sufficient cooperation in several ongoing investigations, the committee will meet April 25 to consider issuing subpoenas.

Ten days ago, Waxman's office issued a statement to Roll Call noting the restraint with which his committee has wielded its subpoena power.

"The committee is conducting long overdue oversight that has already saved taxpayers millions," Waxman said at the time. "It has exercised all its powers responsibly. In contrast to the model set by the Republicans during the Clinton administration, when subpoenas were a daily occurrence, the Committee has yet to issue a subpoena."

That may change next week.

Unless Republicans offer their testimony voluntarily, Waxman's committee will consider issuing subpoenas for:

• Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for testimony about her role in President Bush's now discredited claim that Iraq was seeking to obtain uranium from Niger;
  
  
• Former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card for his testimony in regard to the leak of former CIA operative Valerie Plame's name to the press;
  
  
• The Republican National Committee for documents related to RNC e-mail accounts used by White House officials, including Karl Rove;
  
  
• And the White House for documents related to a federal contract given to a company that has been implicated in a bribery case.


Go get em Henry..rip em a new one with my blessings dude.

Tags:

Politics, Waxman, Oversight Hearings, Subpoenas

Condi isn't cooperating with Waxman's Oversight Committee either.

It seems that Ms. Rice and her minions are playing hardball with Mr. Waxman and his Oversight committee. If you recall, Waxman requested Ms. Rice’s presence at the Oversight committee in a letter back on March 12th, for an April 18th hearing. Now, almost a month later, the assistant secretary for legislative affairs Jeffery Bergner finally got around to responding to the Waxman letter that also asked for more information about BushCo’s Niger yellowcake claim that he made in his 2003 SOTU speech and Condi’s involvement in that whole sordid affair. He also asked for information about PlameGate and the White House leak of her identity.

To make a long story short, the 17 page response by Jeffrey was severely lacking in substance. He had the nads to send Waxman copies of two letters that were readily available to Mr. Waxman, not to mention they were dated 2003. He also sent Waxman copies of transcripts from a previous hearing that Henry would also have access to. I think Henry is looking for newer information than that, don’t you? Also, the question of Condo’s appearance in front of the Oversight committee wasn’t even addressed.

Isn’t that odd?

Not really, the current administration is quite good at dragging its proverbial feet, in fact I would say they friggin lead the pack when it comes to dragging their feet. Mr. Waxman, not to be one that takes this crap now that he is the head honcho on Oversight..fired back with another letter. Mr. Waxman addresses again the appearance of Condo at the Oversight hearing thusly:

As I hope you can understand, because of the inadequacies of Mr. Bergner’s response, the Committee will not withdraw the invitation for you to testify on April 18,2007.

Hang in there Henry!!! Don’t let the bastards blow you off dude! God, I love this guy.

Tags: Politics, Congressional Oversight, Yellowcake, Bushit

The Hill is alive, with the sound of hearings...

I did not make that GREAT line..I got it from this article over on Foreign Affairs.com which has this lovely, and I do mean lovely fact:

"As the Democrats approach their 100th day in control of Congress, one thing has already set them apart from their Republican predecessors: the large number of oversight hearings on issues relating to foreign and national security policy."

Isn't it like a breath of fresh air after having inhaled nothing but stale smoke filled air for 12 freaking years? Its a good read, if you want to be enlightened..please check it out my dear reader. It looks at whats been happening regarding the precious Oversight duties of our legislative branch and if we should expect any real changes. Take this for instance:

"Whether this surge in congressional oversight ultimately produces wiser policies and more effective implementation remains to be seen. While the constitutional arsenal of Congress is powerful, it has a limited ability to quickly reverse the course set upon by a determined president. Steps taken through the power of the purse and legislation are both blunt and subject to a presidential veto. But over time, an equally determined Congress can leverage public and expert opinion, initially through committee hearings but eventually through ever-stronger legislative steps, to bring about a change in course. Oversight, even more than direct legislation, is key to movement. Oversight keeps an administration on its toes; the lack of oversight, and the expectation that there will be none, leads to complacency, arrogance, and maladministration."

So..at least we got one thing going for our side..this administration can't sit on its arse and expect all their bullshit laws and sleazy amendments to go marching right through the halls of Congress. Not while the Dems are in charge anway.

Tags: Politics, Bush, Democrats, Congressional Hearings

Waxmans Oversight committee will hold hearings on PlameGate tomorrow.

From the govt website:

"Chairman Henry A. Waxman announced a hearing on whether White House officials followed appropriate procedures for safeguarding the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson. At the hearing, the Committee will receive testimony from Ms. Wilson and other experts regarding the disclosure and internal White House security procedures for protecting her identity from disclosure and responding to the leak after it occurred. The hearing is scheduled for Friday, March 16, 10:00 a.m. in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building. Click here for the witness list."

The hearings are always available live, online at the Oversight Committee website, the first one I link to in this blog.

Tags: Politics, Plamegate, Oversight Committee, Waxman