Arlen Specter: “today we have heard quite a ring of castigation against Judge Gonzales, virtually all of it misdirected, virtually all…”

“today we have heard quite a ring of castigation against Judge Gonzales, virtually all of it misdirected, virtually all of it factually incorrect. We have heard the Senator from Massachusetts castigate the Bybee memorandum in torrid prose, claiming the Bybee memorandum was exactly wrong. He asserted that the Bybee memorandum did not have a sensible interpretation, or a legal interpretation of torture. He further claimed that the Bybee memorandum vastly overstated executive authority, and that it said the President had as much authority on the question of detainees as he did on battlefield control. These claims are palpably erroneous. The Senator from Massachusetts then cited the Goldsmith memo, and said it certainly was a smoking gun. But Judge Gonzales did not hold that gun, did not have anything to do with that gun. The Senator from Massachusetts said Judge Gonzales was sent a copy of that memorandum. During the course of Judge Gonzales's questioning by the Senator from Massachusetts, the Senator from Massachusetts never once, to my recollection, ever viewed the transcript, or said anything about the Goldsmith memorandum. So what we have is the castigation of Judge Gonzales for matters which were totally beyond his control. Judge Gonzales was the lawyer for the President as White House Counsel. As such, he sat in on a series of meetings.…”