Mueller v Gonzales

WASHINGTON: The White House labored to explain Friday how apparently contradictory testimony from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller was not at odds.

Appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Gonzales repeatedly and emphatically said President George W. Bush's secret warrantless domestic spying program was not the subject of internal disagreement in 2004 within the Bush administration. Mueller, appearing Thursday before the House Judiciary Committee, said it was.

The apparent contradiction only compounded problems for Gonzales, who is losing support among members of both parties even as he retains Bush's.

The Justice Department chief has been on the political defensive, mostly over doubts about his credibility, since Congress began investigating seven months ago the dismissals of U.S. attorneys. In the process, questions have arisen about Gonzales' involvement in the surveillance program, designed to monitor the international communications of people in the United States with suspected ties to terrorists.

White House press secretary Tony Snow said Gonzales testified accurately that there was no internal dispute over the spying activities the administration launched in 2001 that have since been called the "terrorist surveillance program," or TSP.

"There has never been at any juncture along the line any disagreement about the propriety or legality of that program," he said.

Snow stressed that the program's "legal basis" was not at issue and repeatedly emphasized that his statements only applied to a program as "defined very narrowly and carefully."

Otherwise, he did little to dispel the mystery.

He acknowledged that other matters were a subject of controversy. Since they are classified, however, he said he could not speak about what they were or even whether they were in any way connected to the eavesdropping program. The eavesdropping was conducted without public knowledge until it was disclosed in the media in December 2005 and without any court approval until last January, when the program was put under the authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

"This is where you get into the fact that there is a possibility that there were broader discussions, and I'm not going to get into any of the context of those," Snow said. "There are many different things that involve the gathering or use of intelligence. Some of those may, in fact, have themselves been subjects of controversy."

The issue arose because former Deputy Attorney General James Comey told Congress that he, Mueller and former Attorney General John Ashcroft were among top Justice Department officials who believed the program was illegal and were prepared to resign over it.

Comey described a dramatic hospital bedside visit in March 2004 by then-White House Counsel Gonzales to Ashcroft that involved the dispute. Mueller also said this week that the hospital room confrontation concerned the terrorist surveillance program. Gonzales said it was not, as did Snow.

"I don't want to stand here as the judge to try to interpret for you what everybody means when they use that term, when they use 'terrorist surveillance program,' because it may have different significations to different people," Snow said. "I've told you the narrow construction that the attorney general has used."

When asked if both Mueller and Gonzales were telling the truth, Snow said, "Yes, I think so. ... I'm sure that both men were up there telling the truth and the whole truth as they understood it."

Gonzales testified previously that the dispute was over "operational capabilities" that remain classified.

During a secure briefing July 19 at the Capitol, Gonzales discussed the reasons behind the bedside visit, lawmakers told reporters immediately afterward. Democratic Rep. Sylvestre Reyes, who as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is privy to classified details, said Gonzales explained the visit "very well in terms of why they had gone there."

But Reyes told The Associated Press on Friday that he found Gonzales' explanation "curious." Asked if he sees the distinction Gonzales made this week between the TSP and other unnamed activities, Reyes responded: "I don't see it."

Earlier Friday, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino accused Senate Democrats of waging a campaign of "constant attacks" aimed at bringing down Gonzales.