Corallo on Gonzales DOJ: "They really should be ashamed of themselves."

And it has nothing to do with Plame (directly).

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/01/washington/01chronicle.html?_r=1&oref=slogin


Justice Dept. Is Criticized by Ex-Official on Subpoenas


By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: June 1, 2006

Subpoenas issued last month to reporters for The San Francisco Chronicle were criticized yesterday by a former chief spokesman for Attorney General John Ashcroft as a "reckless abuse of power."

The former spokesman, Mark Corallo, made similar statements in an affidavit filed in federal court yesterday. He said Mr. Ashcroft's successor, Alberto R. Gonzales, had acted improperly in issuing the subpoenas.

"This is the most reckless abuse of power I have seen in years," Mr. Corallo said in an interview. "They really should be ashamed of themselves."

The subpoenas, part of an effort to identify The Chronicle's sources for its coverage of steroid use in baseball, would not have been authorized by Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Corallo said. "You just don't ride roughshod over the rights of reporters to gather information from confidential sources," he added.

Mr. Corallo left the Justice Department in 2005. His public relations firm represents, among others, Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser. A spokeswoman for Mr. Ashcroft, who also stepped down in 2005, declined to comment on Mr. Corallo's sworn statement, which was submitted with the reporters' motion to quash the subpoena.

That's the way i see this, it's just a test run before they go after the journalist that can cause them big trouble.

And it appears that some on the right, don't like it or think it's wrong. I didn't think i'd find myself agreeing with anyone from the Ashcroft group on anything, but this is a good sign IMHO it's going to take someone from the right to put a stop to this.

Peace!

I never thought I would say it, but Gonzales is even more of a disaster for the rule of law than Ashcroft. He seem to just make it up as he goes along. The boss's most secret desires are Gonzales's commands.