The Jarrett NSA files

Earlier this week, mes amis, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was taken to task by Senator Patrick Leahy, ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, for the administration's thwarting of an inquiry, undertaken by DoJ Office of Professional Responsibility Director H. Marshall Jarrett, into the role of Justice Department officials in signing off on the administration's domestic spying program, which is being conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA). Jarrett's inquiry was undertaken at the request of members of Congress, but was quashed by none other than President George W. Bush himself, according to Gonzales.

The indefatiguable Murray Waas has led the reporting on this constitution-crushing executive branch gambit.

Herewith you will find the attorney general's response to the committee regarding the stymied investigation and, more importantly, three memos penned by Jarrett expressing his frustration that his investigators were denied the security clearances they needed to complete the investigation, which was closed without conclusion. Your blogstress directs you to pages 7 and 8 of the posted PDF file, wherein Jarrett observes:

Since its creation some 31 years ago, OPR has conducted many highly sensitive investigations involving Executive Branch programs and has obtained access to information classified at the highest levels. In all those years, OPR has never been prevented from initiating or pursuing an investigation.


NOTE: If you have a problem with the embedded links, try clicking here: Jarrett-Gonzales-NSA-memos.pdf

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