Would We Lie?- Quote of the Day 8/11

"Of course it wasn't hush money!"

- Former John Edwards Finance director, confidante, and rich guy Fred Baron on whether the $15,000/ month he's been giving to former Edwards aide Andrew Young and former Edwards mistress Rielle Hunter is in exchange for the pair's stance that Young (and not Edwards) is the father of Rielle's baby.

Baron said he's given money to both Young and Hunter to leave North Carolina and escape press, and has also covered their "overhead" costs. He denies Edwards ever knew he was funding the pair.

Edwards recently admitted to the affair with the 42 year old documentarian, but denied he's the father of her child, even though he was photographed visiting them recently.

So, to recap:

• Oct. 10, 2007: The National Inquirer reports the affair
  
• Oct. 11, 2007: Hunter issues a denial: "The innuendoes [sic] and lies that have appeared on the internet and in the National Enquirer are not true, completely unfounded and ridiculous... my conduct was completely professional. This concocted story is just dirty politics and I want no part of it."
• Same day: Edwards denies affair
  
• Dec. 19: National Inquirer reports Hunter's pregnant and Edwards is the father
• Later that day: Through an attorney, Young issues statement that he's the father, is leaving the campaign, and Edwards had no idea about the relationship
• July 22, 2008: National Inquirer reports that Edwards visited Hunter and baby at an LA hotel
• July 23: Edwards denies story again- "The tabloid trash is full of lies"
• August 8: National Inquirer publishes photos of LA hotel meeting
• Same day: Edwards admits affair

So, after all that lying, they contend that Edwards is not the father and that he had no idea his close friend was paying the alleged father and mistress $15k/ month. Because that's something he'd be kept in the dark about...

Edwards claimed he met with Hunter at the assistance of a "mutual friend" to hear her story of struggle with the publicity.

Although Edwards claims he would take a paternity test, Hunter said she will not allow it.

Breaking News: Alberto Gonzales Lied (again)

In a development that should shock no one...

On April 27, 2005 Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the Senate in the debate on whether to renew the US Patriot Act. He was asked whether he knew of any abuses by the FBI of their Patriot Act Powers. Gonzales answered:

"There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse."

He was lying. And he got caught.

As the Washington Post reports: "Six days earlier, the FBI sent Gonzales a copy of a report that said its agents had obtained personal information that they were not entitled to have. It was one of at least half a dozen reports of legal or procedural violations that Gonzales received in the three months before he made his statement to the Senate intelligence committee, according to internal FBI documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.

The acts recounted in the FBI reports included unauthorized surveillance, an illegal property search and a case in which an Internet firm improperly turned over a compact disc with data that the FBI was not entitled to collect, the documents show. Gonzales was copied on each report that said administrative rules or laws protecting civil liberties and privacy had been violated.

The reports also alerted Gonzales in 2005 to problems with the FBI's use of an anti-terrorism tool known as a national security letter (NSL), well before the Justice Department's inspector general brought widespread abuse of the letters in 2004 and 2005 to light in a stinging report this past March."

read the entire article here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/09/AR2007070902065_pf.html

In Gonzales' defense, officials at Justice said they could not be sure AG had read any of the reports from the FBI. Furthermore, a spokesman said that Gonzalez was speaking in context of reports by the department's inspector general before this year that found no misconduct or specific civil liberties abuses related to the Patriot Act.

Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, The Post details just what the reports given to Gonzalez said, so decide for yourself.