So not to worry, says Dana Perino. “We are looking for the missing emails, and they will be turned over to the Republican National Committee.” Wait a minute. Shouldn’t they be turned over to the investigating committees? At least there we know they wouldn’t wind up being triple-deleted by reformatting the hard disks.
The Juicy Parts
What could possibly be in those emails that is worth risking a prison sentence by obstructing justice and denying a subpoena?
Let’s take a look at what we’ve found so far.
- March 6, 2007: Justice Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolino emailed Dan Bartlett and Cathie Martin with advice about changing the discussion on the fired U.S. Attorneys: “We are trying to muddy the coverage up a bit by trying to put the focus on the process in which they were told” they were about to be canned.
- Feb. 28, 2007: Assistant Attorney General Richard Hertling emailed to Rove lackey Tim Griffin (the new U.S. Attorney in Arkansas who replaced fired Attorney Bud Cummins): “We have to emphasize the normalcy in your case.” In other words, “Nothing to see here, keep moving along.”
- Feb. 28, 2007: Fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias (New Mexico) held a news conference stating that Senator Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson (both R-N.M.) had pressured him to prosecute Democrats on “voter fraud” without evidence.
- Scott Jennings emailed his boss Karl Rove: “…Domenici’s idea is not to respond and hopefully make this a one-day story…Unfortunately, I do not think that they can make an allegation such as this go away so easily.” “Make this a one-day story?” Can you spell “coverup?”
- January 2007: Monica Goodling (who just resigned from DOJ) emailed about Rove’s buddy, the new U.S. Attorney in Arkansas: “Here are the talkers (talking points) on Griffin, as well as a narrative that can be used by staff…I think it would be helpful for all of the Rs to have it.” So Monica was writing the official lie and making sure everyone was on the same page.
And I saved the best for last.
- January 12, 2007: Justice Department official Rebecca Seidel and Gonzales aide Kyle Sampson were scheduled to meet with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to discuss the U. S. Attorney firings. Seidel emailed Sampson:
- “Kyle, I understand [Deputy Attorney General] Paul McNulty thinks we should go up in person? Do you want us to set that up? Not sure how we do today if that is the case given how booked the day is. Phone call easier, and may be easier to get out of (i.e. not trapped up there) when she doesn't get the info she wants (i.e. why they were fired).”
Obviously Seidel knew that she and Sampson were about to lie to Senator Feinstein about the firings.
More juicy tidbits as we worm our way through all the redactions.
John “Can we get a high-volume discount at Kinko’s for printing subpoenas?” Conyers
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