If you’re a Republican lawyer, you just can’t beat having the muscle of the Justice Department to pursue Democrats.
I think White House pressers Scott Stanzel can do a little better on telling us why the White House changed their email retention policy for RNC emails back in 2004. Some pretty canny reporter asked this question this morning in the gaggle …
Reporter: On the change in policy in ’04, wasn’t that in response to Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation into the White House and the need, in response to his inquiries, to preserve records?
Stanzel: I don’t know the reasons for that change. That’s our understanding of when that change occurred. But the White House Counsel’s Office is working with the RNC counsel to be sure and to gather more information about when changes were made and why they were made….
I can say that I am very confident, very confident that that reporter is correct and that orders from Pat Fitzgerald were the reason for the change in White House policy in 2004. So the change in policy was tied to yet another criminal investigation of the White House. And the White House and the key employees in question — namely Karl Rove and people working for him at the White House political office — were specifically on notice not to destroy the emails they sent through the RNC servers. And yet they took affirmative steps to continue destroying them, even after all of this had happened.
It just never stops. According to CREW, there are millions of missing emails from the White House — these from the White House servers.
Hillary heads to Rutgers to discuss women and politics. I guess probably no stop for the Imus show.
Josh Green explains for us how Karl Rove once used the ‘vote fraud’ issue to get one of his clients’ election defeats reversed in court. This isssue’s really close to Karl’s heart.
Exclusive: We’ve obtained the full memo from Rahm Emanuel to fellow House Dem leaders urging them to hang tough in the face of White House pressure to fund the war. Check it out.
The new details keep coming fast and furious. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) just sent a letter to Alberto Gonzales, who I guess we might call the AG pro-tem. Waxman spoke to RNC Counsel Rob Kelner. According to Kelner, even after the RNC began saving Karl Rove’s emails, in response to orders from Pat Fitzgerald, Rove himself apparently continued to delete the messages himself well into 2005. This one’s pretty fishy. So you’ll want to read the details Paul has in this new post at TPMmuckraker.
AP: CBS cans Imus.
BREAKING!: David Gregory hangs tough against the anti-Imus lynch mob. Video Soon!
Late Update: There seems to have been at least one reader who didn’t realize the ‘breaking’ line above was a sarcastic remark at David Gregory’s expense. Please tell me he’s the only one? Please?
Fred Hiatt responds to our questions, explains why it’s okay to publish a Liz Cheney Op ed piece bashing Nancy Pelosi without identifying her as Veep Cheney’s daughter.
US Attorney Purge smoke comin’ out of Wisconsin …
Late Update: After we finished today’s piece, Rep. Conyers (D-MI) put out the word that he now has evidence that some of those RNC emails contain more information about Wisconsin US Attorney Steven Biskupic. All eyes on Wisconsin.