Can you say, “Special Prosecutor”?
I just don’t have words to describe the rage that this brings up in me, but I’m gonna try anyway.
A lawyer for the Republican National Committee told congressional staff members yesterday that the RNC is missing at least four years’ worth of e-mail from White House senior adviser Karl Rove that is being sought as part of investigations into the Bush administration, according to the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
GOP officials took issue with Rep. Henry Waxman’s account of the briefing and said they still hope to find the e-mail as they conduct forensic work on their computer equipment. But they acknowledged that they took action to prevent Rove — and Rove alone among the two dozen or so White House officials with RNC accounts — from deleting his e-mails from the RNC server. Waxman (D-Calif.) said he was told the RNC made that move in 2005.
In a letter to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, Waxman said the RNC lawyer, Rob Kelner, also raised the possibility that Rove had personally deleted the missing e-mails, all dating back to before 2005.
Might this mean that we will finally be seeing Fitzmas sometime this summer? I wonder if any of those missing emails have anything to do with what The Tall Man has been up to since 2003. Dontcha think that Fitzgerld might be interested in finding out if any of these missing emails might have impacted the outcome of his CIA leak investigation? Particulaly what Rove’s part in it really was? After all, the period of the missing email convers the entirety of the CIA leak case.
But wait, hold the phone, there’s more:
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The Slippery Steep Slope
Glenn Greenwald is a must read this morning:
Various Republican candidates attended a meeting of Club for Growth, and afterwards, National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru spoke to Cato Institute’s President Ed Crane about what they said. This brief report from Ponnuru is simply extraordinary:
Crane asked if Romney believed the president should have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens with no review. Romney said he would want to hear the pros and cons from smart lawyers before he made up his mind.
Mitt Romeny can’t say — at least not until he engages in a careful and solemn debate with a team of “smart lawyers” — whether, in the United States of America, the President has the power to imprison American citizens without any opportunity for review of any kind. But in today’s Republican Party, Romney’s openness to this definitively tyrannical power is the moderate position. Ponnuru goes on to note:Crane said that he had asked Giuliani the same question a few weeks ago. The mayor said that he would want to use this authority infrequently.
It sounds like Giuliani is positioning himself in this race as the “compassionate authoritarian” — “Yes, of course I have the power to imprison you without charges or review of any kind, but as President, I commit to you that I intend (no promises) to ‘use this authority infrequently.’”
Today’s Interesting News
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ senior counsel and White House liaison Monica Goodling has announced her intention to invoke her Fifth Admendment right against self incrimination regarding any questions she may be asked by the Senate Judiciary Committee investigating the firings of federal prosecutors.
But wait, there’s more. Stephen D has a very intriguing post up over at the Booman Tribune detailing why Ms. Goodling may not have the right to invoke the fifth in this circumstance. Her reasons for invoking it just don’t qualify.
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About Us
Sangemon
Nyack, NY
A 50-something, empty-nesting, lefty-blogging, guitar pickin’, sound mixer and private pilot with a passion for political debate, an affinity for smart people, and a love of Beech Bonanzas and Martin guitars.
Things I’m grateful for:
1 fabulous bride of 28 years
3 brilliant kids
3 adorable grandkids
A warm home
A fulfilling career
My far-flung extended family
My lifelong friends
______________________________
Stephen Fleischman
Los Angeles, CA
Stephen Fleischman’s career as a television writer-director-producer spanned more than three decades beginning in the early 1950’s. In 1959, he participated in the formation of the renowned Murrow-Friendly “CBS Reports” series. In 1983, Steve won the prestigious Columbia University-Dupont Television Journalism Award.
His memoir, “A Red in the House”, about his thirty years in network news, is now in print.
For additional information, see: www.read2greatbooks.comE-mail to: stevefl@ca.rr.com
