According to today’s Washington Post, United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales already knew about FBI abuses of the Patriot Act when he swore to legislators two years ago that the anti-terror law had never been used to violate civil liberties. Translation? Ever the model for ‘yes’ men everywhere, Cabana Al lied to cover his ass and President Bush’s. (By the way, feast your eyes on that ‘stache—even Dubya can’t help but laugh.) Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, Post reporters did a little snooping of their own and came up with this:

The acts recounted in the FBI reports included unauthorized surveillance, an illegal property search and a case in which an Internet firm improperly turned over a compact disc with data that the FBI was not entitled to collect, the documents show.

Gonzales was copied on each report that said administrative rules or laws protecting civil liberties and privacy had been violated.

Talk about being caught red-handed. We can’t decide the thing we’re more over at this point: the ever-growing surveillance net of Big Brother, or the fact that Alberto Gonzales will probably be the last Hispanic any President trusts to appoint as top lawyer of the land.

Gonzales Was Told Of FBI Violations [Washington Post]
Image [Double Speak With Matthew and Peter Slutsky]