While I believe whole heartedly in the fifth amendment’s protections for individuals against self incrimination in regards to their personal lives, I believe that it should not ever be needed when a government employee is called upon to describe their on-the-job duties. I expect members/employees of the government to adhere to the law while performing their duties, and there should not be anything criminal about their job; especially when the person in question works in the attorney general’s office. When a government employee pleads the fifth while being questioned by the Senate about the work they did as a government employee they are pretty much saying “You don’t get to hear how I spent my time while employed by the people of this country, and since I plead the fifth you can’t hold that lack of knowledge against me”. I think that any government employee who pleads the fifth in regards to their employment should be immediately fired and required to pay back every penny they earned during their employ. Everything they earned, including health and retirement benefits, should be returned so that the American people are not paying for this person’s unaccounted for activities. Right after the check clears charge them with treason, as they were obviously not working in the best interest of the People while employed by the People.
Why do we tolerate such abuses by our government workers and our politicians? They work for the people, and yet the American people seem incredibly willing to take the royal screwing we have been getting for as long as we can remember. Where was the turning point between George Washington who was afraid the people would treat him like a king and George W. Bush who demands to be treated like a king?
-Chris Knight
Gonzales Aide to Invoke Fifth Amendment
By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer
Monday, March 26, 2007
(03-26) 16:35 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) —Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ liaison with the White House will refuse to answer questions at upcoming Senate hearings about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, citing her Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, her lawyer says.
“I have decided to follow by lawyer’s advice and respectfully invoke my constitutional right,” Monica Goodling, Gonzales’ counsel and White House liaison, said in a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The revelation complicated the outlook for Gonzales, who is traveling out of town this week even as he fights to keep his job and his agency’s investigatory power.
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