By Dave Lindorff

A new congressional report is belatedly confirming what many have
long known: that the White House and in particular then White House
Counsel Alberto Gonzales, lied to Congress in 2004 when he told them
the Bush administration was not repeatedly warned by the CIA not to
make the claim that Saddam had tried to buy uranium ore from Niger.

What is astonishing about this report,
which documents that the CIA at least four times tried to prevent Bush
and other top officials from presenting that lie to Congress and the
American public in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, is not that it
documents what has long been known, but that Congress and the corporate
media are still pretending that the claim itself was an acceptable
justification for launching a war.

By Dave Lindorff

A month before he takes office, it has become the conventional
wisdom in our conventional media that Barack “No Drama” Obama will not
seek or even allow any prosecution of Bush administration officials for
crimes committed over the past eight years—not even for authorizing and
promoting the illegal use of torture on captives of America’s wars on
Iraq, Afghanistan and “terror.”

Wow!! Breaking news from South Texas (h/t Faiz Shakir):

Vice President Cheney indicted by Willacy County grand jury
By Emma Perez-Trevino, The Brownsville Herald

A Willacy County grand jury under District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra returned multi-count indictments Monday against Vice President Dick Cheney, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, plus several other public officials.

So who threw Gonzo under the bus? Obviously it wasn't Bush, who was clearly furious when he delivered his extremely brief remarks - in strong contrast to his public display of affection for Karl Rove.

Rather, it looks like the dirty deed was done by White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and White House Counsel Fred Fielding, according to the NY Times.

The officials said he offered his resignation on Friday in a brief telephone conversation with Mr. Bush, who was at his ranch in Crawford, and that the president immediately accepted the resignation. On Sunday, Mr. Gonzales and his wife flew to the ranch for a consoling lunch where the resignation was confirmed.

NY Times has the scoop:

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, whose tenure has been marred by controversy and accusations of perjury before Congress, has resigned. A senior administration official said he would announce the decision later this morning in Washington.

Mr. Gonzales, who had rebuffed calls for his resignation, submitted his to President Bush by telephone on Friday, the official said. His decision was not announced immediately announced, the official added, until after the president invited him and his wife to lunch at his ranch near here.

Congressional representatives from Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have sponsored H. Res. 589, a bill to impeach Alberto Gonzales. Will they also sign on to H. Res. 333, to sponsor Dick Cheney's impeachment? Why not thank them for sponsoring H. Res. 589, and ask them to sponsor H. Res. 333? Is YOUR rep listed? See the list here!

We know that activism works. In just the last 24 hours Debra Bowen decertified every DRE (hackable electronic voting machine) in CA, and she did this courageous thing at least in part because of the tens of thousands of messages she was getting from her constituents in the state. We know. We were involved in helping to mobilize those voices.

So too with impeachment. The only hurdle between the consensus of the people and restoring Constitutional integrity is our own dedication in speaking out and encouraging everyone else we can to do the same. And as we look for opportunities to reach out to our fellow citizens with calls to action, we cannot help but notice that the fastest growing networked community on the internet is the Facebook® web site. In large part this is because they have opened up their platform to member created applications, which in practical use makes their entire base of about 30 million participants accessible to the activism of each other.

IMPEACHMENT ACTION PAGE: http://apps.facebook.com/fb_voices/

Satyam has the news, courtesy of MSNBC:

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) is introducing legislation that would require the House Judiciary Committee and the House of Representatives to begin an impeachment investigation into Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, in the wake of his damaging testimony last week. The legislation reads:

Resolved: That the Committee on the Judiciary shall investigate fully whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to impeach Alberto Gonzales for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Tell your Representatives to Impeach Alberto Gonzales!

Another top Justice official quits

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Another top Justice Department official involved in the controversial firing of several U.S. Attorneys has announced he’s resigning.

Mike Elston, chief of staff to departing Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty is stepping down next week, Justice Department officials said Friday.

Elston’s departure had been anticipated after McNulty announced in May that he will leave the Justice Department this summer to pursue a career in the private sector.

Documents released by the Justice Department to Congressional investigators have shown Elston was involved in discussions with other high level Justice officials about plans to remove eight U.S. attorneys last year.