Name: Alberto R. Gonzales
Born: August 4, 1955, in San Antonio, Texas
Profession: Attorney
GW Bush Administration Position:
-
Attorney General (Feb. 2005-Sept. 2007)
-
White House Counsel (2001 to 2005)
War crime charge(s):
- Complicity in the commission of a war crime – torture, ill-treatment of detainees.
- Signed and endorsed memo written by Addington in January 2002 stating Taliban and Al Qaeda detainees were unprotected by the Geneva Conventions.
Primary Association:
-
Since Jan. 2, 2012, Gonzales has filled the Doyle Rogers Distinguished Chair of Law of Belmont University’s new College of Law. Belmont, a Christian university, is in Nashville TN.
- Hired to assist a special master, former U.S. District Judge Layn R. Phillips, who is handling patent settlement talks between DataTreasury Corp. and banks such as Wells Fargo.
- Of counsel with the law firm of Waller, Lansden, Dortch and Davis in Nashville TN.
- The governor of Tennessee appointed Gonzales and four others to a panel that makes nominations to the state’s appeals courts and Supreme Court.
Excellent biography page on Gonzales from The Center on Torture Accountability.
More Information:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Gonzales
- The DOJ Torture Emails
- 2-11-09 Complete Bush Appointee Resignation Scorecard
- 6-22-09 Bush officials: Where are they now?
- 7-01-09 10 Most Wanted War Criminals
- 7-8-09 Is Texas Harboring a Torture Decider?
- 7-25-09 Tech faculty oppose Gonzales
- 7-25-09 Text of Texas Tech petition opposing Gonzales hiring
- 8-31-09 Should Texas Tech Employ Alberto Gonzales?
- 9-1-09 Gonzales Defends Holder’s Decision on CIA
- 9-4-09 Gonzales Denies Supporting CIA Probe
- 9-4-09 Alberto Gonzales: The Opera
- 9-29-09 Profile: Jay S. Bybee
- 10-18-09 “No Regrets” Video Interview
- 11-23-09 Alberto Gonzales Won’t Be Charged Over Eavesdropping Testimony
- 1-19-10 ICC Complaint Filed Against Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Tenet, Rice & Gonzales
Note:
Still jobless Gonzales says he’s ‘casualty’ of the war on terror
“[T]here is no express grant of habeas in the Constitution1.”
“I don’t think that there’s going to be a prosecution, quite frankly2,”
1January 18, 2007, testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee
2speaking to Michel Martin of National Public Radio on January 26, 2009
From Officials of Torture, website of Sandra Koponen.
“Prohibitions on Torture Are Quaint and Obsolete”
16×20, Oil on canvas, Sandra Koponen © 2015
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
Alberto Gonzalez, White House Counsel Jan. 20, 2001 – Feb. 3, 2005
Attorney General Feb. 3, 2005 – Sept. 17, 2007
A member of the self-styled “War Council” composed of senior Bush administration lawyers, Gonzales helped craft the legal justification for the torture program. He recommended that Bush override legal and policy objections by the State Department and refuse to accord to detainees the protections of the Geneva Conventions, setting the stage for the torture to come. In making his recommendations, Gonzales argued that a benefit of not recognizing Geneva Convention protections would be a lower risk of future domestic criminal prosecution.
In May 2002, Gonzales and others were consulted by the CIA about using brutal methods, including waterboarding, on Abu Zubaydah… . he visited Guantanamo Bay in September 2002 along with other administration lawyers, reportedly to observe interrogations and influence the methods used. Gonzales and the War Council also circumvented the typical review process for sensitive memos of the Office of Legal Counsel, ensuring minimal review and opportunity for dissent. Gonzales maintained his positions despite mounting internal and public reports of abuses and even deaths of detainees in DOD and CIA custody.*
* https://www.aclu.org/infographic/infographic-torture-architects