Patrick Leahy’s Opening Statements

C&L:
Senator Patrick Leahy, D-VT, gave a powerful opening statement this morning to open the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings dealing with the ongoing scandal involving Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the purge of 8 U.S. Attorneys.

You can watch the video here

Leahy: "Real oversight has returned to Capitol Hill. Investigations have already pulled back the curtain to reveal unbridled political meddling, Katrina style cronyism, and unfettered White House unilateralism that is directed at one of our most precious national assets. Our law enforcement - our legal system. Earlier in this process it seemed the administration was concluding that any answer would do, whether it was rooted in the facts or not. Those days are behind us. Just any answer won't do anymore. We need the facts to pursue the facts until we get the truth."

Leahy also made it clear that Gonzales would not be getting a free pass regarding his involvement in the authorization and justification of the use of torture by the U.S. Let's just hope Leahy doesn't give a free pass to Cheney or Bush either.