Report: Gonzales Mishandled Top Secret Docs

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2, 2008— -- Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales mishandled notes and documents related to a counterterrorism program that he described as "probably the most classified program that exists in the U.S. government," according to a Justice Department report released today.

The Justice Department inspector general's investigation found that despite the highly sensitive nature of the National Security Agency program, which has been shrouded in secrecy for years, Gonzales not only failed to keep notes and documents related to it in proper safes, but he also kept top secret classified notes about the program unsecured at his house.

"Our investigation found that Gonzales mishandled classified materials while serving as attorney general," the report from Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine noted. "The evidence shows that he took [Top Secret]/[Sensitive Compartmentalized Information] notes about the NSA surveillance program to his residence and improperly stored them in a briefcase there for an indeterminate period of time."

Gonzales certainly knew the delicate nature of the material. After the existence of the program was disclosed in media reports, he said during a briefing in December 2005: "This is a very classified program. It is probably the most classified program that exists in the U.S. government, because the tools are so valuable."

The notes were related to the NSA program instituted shortly after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that allowed warrantless wiretapping of Americans.

The notes centered on an "emergency" meeting held March 10, 2004 at the White House with congressional leaders, Vice President Dick Cheney and NSA Director Michael Hayden about aspects of the program, which intercepted domestic communications possibly linked to al Qaeda members, according to the inspector general, who interviewed Gonzales about the handling of the documents.

That meeting sparked tension between top members of the Justice Department, which found it could no longer support the authorization of the warrantless wiretapping program, and other members of the administration.