# Gonzalez may have lied to Congress; Dem calls for special prosecutor **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 10, 2007, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzalez-may-have-lied-to-congress-dem-calls-for-special-prosecutor/411261 "2007-07-10T21:05:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzalez-may-have-lied-to-congress-dem-calls-for-special-prosecutor/411261/121 "2007-08-02T18:31:03Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] At any rate, considerably more than it did before 2001 – but we don’t know exactly what. [/QUOTE] And we probably never will. I suspect that **everything** the NSA does is secret. Why do you think they call it No Such Agency? I guess you’re going to tell us that you’re shocked, SHOCKED, that secret programs are being undertaken by the NSA. Maybe secret = bad, and maybe not. You seem to be assuming the former, and assuming that this is something new. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzalez-may-have-lied-to-congress-dem-calls-for-special-prosecutor/411261/122 "2007-08-02T18:42:42Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Maybe secret = bad, and maybe not. [/QUOTE] Secret = bad, when secret = illegal. > [@](#): > > The Bush Administration’s hard press for emergency wiretapping powers from Congress before the August break now has an explanation: a secret court decided several months ago that at least one portion of the NSA wiretapping program is illegal, according to [del]MSNBC[/del] Newsweek. That program operated for four years without court supervision, until the Administration bowed to public pressure in January 2007 and allowed the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to review it. [Court Ruling that NSA Wiretapping is Illegal Drives Emergency Push for New Spy Powers, Newsweek Reports](http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/08/court-ruling-th.html) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzalez-may-have-lied-to-congress-dem-calls-for-special-prosecutor/411261/123 "2007-08-02T18:45:06Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] Secret = bad, when secret = illegal. [Court Ruling that NSA Wiretapping is Illegal Drives Emergency Push for New Spy Powers, Newsweek Reports](http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/08/court-ruling-th.html) [/QUOTE] [Separate thread on that.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=431262) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzalez-may-have-lied-to-congress-dem-calls-for-special-prosecutor/411261/124 "2007-08-02T19:12:34Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] Secret = bad, when secret = illegal. [/QUOTE] Well, that’s **BG** ’s missing ingredient. Are you expecting me to disagree with that? Actually, it’s illegal = bad, and “secret” has nothing to do with it. NSA = secret, so \*\*BG \*\*needs to come in with more than _OMG! The NSA is engaged in secret programs!!_ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzalez-may-have-lied-to-congress-dem-calls-for-special-prosecutor/411261/125 "2007-08-02T19:26:19Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Well, that’s **BG** ’s missing ingredient. Are you expecting me to disagree with that? Actually, it’s illegal = bad, and “secret” has nothing to do with it. NSA = secret, so \*\*BG \*\*needs to come in with more than _OMG! The NSA is engaged in secret programs!!_ [/QUOTE] The concern arises because **the one such program we know about** is probably illegal and certainly inimical to civil liberties and privacy. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzalez-may-have-lied-to-congress-dem-calls-for-special-prosecutor/411261/126 "2007-08-02T19:32:36Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Dude, what do you think the NSA does-- sell Girl Scout Cookies? [/QUOTE] No, but there are limits to the extent it can spy on people here in the U.S. of A. And it was obviously doing _something_ that sufficiently surpassed the current TSP, which they approved, that Ashcroft, Comey, and Mueller were all prepared to resign if it continued. It’s not like any of these guys was doing commercials for the ACLU. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzalez-may-have-lied-to-congress-dem-calls-for-special-prosecutor/411261/127 "2007-08-02T19:58:26Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Are you expecting me to disagree with that? Actually, it’s illegal = bad, and “secret” has nothing to do with it. [/QUOTE] Actually, from the point of view of the perpetrators of illegal acts, secret = good, as it means they won’t get caught and punished for their lawbreaking. Secret has _much_ to do with the problem here. I don’t know whether you have trouble with secret, illegal stuff or not. You haven’t told us. Do you favor the Jack Bauer approach, or not? I do know that many who lean towards the right do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonzalez-may-have-lied-to-congress-dem-calls-for-special-prosecutor/411261.md?page=6)