I will be the first to admit I am not perfect and I make mistakes.
From Alberto Gonzales
Jim, I'm not aware of any formal requests from the Senate Judiciary Committee for these kinds of documents.
We're talking about the lawyers for the United States of America. And I think it's very, very important that the lawyers be comfortable being very candid and open about their views on very sensitive issues affecting the United States.
I think what we ought to be focusing on is that we are on path for the release of 75,000 pages of documents in connection with John Roberts' work in the White House, as in the counselor's office and as his time working as an assistant in the office of the attorney general.
But the Congress has made the determination that certain kinds of information can be protected even though the American people may want to have access to information.
There are, for example, exemptions in FOIA in which the government can withhold certain kinds of information, and the courts have recognized that there is certain documentation that do deserve protection, that certain privileges do apply and do deserve protection.
Well, there is an attorney-client privilege here that needs to be respected, and it's a privilege that has been found to be worthy of protection by our courts.
I feel very confident that that information should be sufficient for the members of the Senate to make an informed decision about John Roberts' qualifications.
We respect the role of the Senate. We respect the authority of the Senate to look at the qualifications of Judge Roberts, and at the end of the day I'm optimistic that if given a fair hearing and a fair opportunity, that he will be confirmed.
I'll leave it to others to try to determine whether or not that was unfair or not. I'm not the nominee.
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