Leahy pleased with DoJ probe of Gonzales

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) lauded Department of Justice Inspector General Glenn Fine on Thursday for investigating the actions of departing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

{mosads}Earlier this month, Leahy had called on Fine to determine whether Gonzales’s testimony before the panel had been false or misleading.

Fine assured the senator that ongoing internal investigations into the firing of U.S. attorneys and a probe of a terrorist surveillance program should satisfy Leahy’s request.

“I look forward to the Inspector General’s findings on the unprecedented firings of nine United States Attorneys, the improper political hiring of career officials within the Justice Department, the misuse of National Security Letters, and the efforts to bypass the Department’s finding that a warrantless surveillance program was without legal basis,” Leahy said.

The senator added that the internal DoJ investigations “can help restore independence and accountability, which have been sorely lacking at the Justice Department.”