Don’t Tread on Me

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales does not like it when members of Congress poke their noses into the affairs of the executive branch. 


Consider today’s Washington Post report on this week’s release of the transcript from an April House Judiciary Committee hearing on such matters as domestic surveillance and treatment of potential terrorists. During the hearing, Gonzales repeatedly evaded lawmakers’ questions.


Here’s a snippet from the exchange between Gonzales and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY):

Nadler: Can you assure this Committee that the United States Government will not grab anybody at an airport or anyplace in U.S. territory, and send them to another country without some sort of due process?


Gonzales: Well, what I can tell you is that we’re going to follow the law in terms of what—


Nadler: Well, does the law permit us to send someone to another country without any due process, without a hearing before an administrative, an immigration judge or somebody? Just grab them off the street and put them on a plane, goodbye without — we’ve done that. Does the law permit us to do that? Do we claim that right?


Gonzales: I’m not going to confirm that we’ve done that.

Bush and Gonzales have this message for the Congress: Go back to investigating steroid use among athletes or something, but don’t tread on us!