Friday, October 03, 2003
The Plame Affair
AP in time for lunch:
"Some materials" ... Hmmm...
Meanwhile, the Democrats continue to hammer on Ashcroft's refusal to recuse himself. Schumer points out that Ashcroft did recuse himself in the 2001 probe of former Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., because Torricelli had campaigned against Ashcroft in the attorney general's unsuccessful bid for re-election as a senator from Missouri in 2000. And in 2002, Ashcroft recused himself from an Enron investigation because he had received $60,000 from Enron in campaign contributions. So why doesn't he recuse himself in a situation where he paid one of the (potential) suspects in a criminal investigation $300,000 in consulting fees?
And ABC's The Note tells the White House to brace themselves "for some new bylines to show up on the Wilson story perhaps quite soon." Seymour Hersh would be nice...
Speaking of bylines: The Howler deconstructs a piece by Jennifer Harper of the Washington Times. It seems that in her coverage of public opinion "beyond the Beltway" she manages not to mention that 82 percent of the American people called The Plame Affair "serious" until the last third of the piece. Isn't 82% is a lot of "beyond"?
UPDATE: AP gives detail on a memo from White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales to White House staffers on how to comply with DOJ's request for more documents. Staffers have until Tuesday to turn everything over to him and will have to sign a "certificate" saying they've turned everything relevant over. The story says that Gonzales wants "electronic records, correspondence, computer records, notes and calendar entries." From DOD and State, however, DOJ wants "phone logs, e-mails and other documents." Interesting that phone logs (and cell phone bills?) are on DOJ's list, but not on the White House list. Just the reporting, or something more? Again, "some materials" ...
The Plame Affair today (is Bush off the hook?); versus Whitewater (back).
The Justice Department also sent a new letter to the White House requesting that it turn over some materials, spokesman Scott McClellan said Friday.
"Some materials" ... Hmmm...
Meanwhile, the Democrats continue to hammer on Ashcroft's refusal to recuse himself. Schumer points out that Ashcroft did recuse himself in the 2001 probe of former Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., because Torricelli had campaigned against Ashcroft in the attorney general's unsuccessful bid for re-election as a senator from Missouri in 2000. And in 2002, Ashcroft recused himself from an Enron investigation because he had received $60,000 from Enron in campaign contributions. So why doesn't he recuse himself in a situation where he paid one of the (potential) suspects in a criminal investigation $300,000 in consulting fees?
And ABC's The Note tells the White House to brace themselves "for some new bylines to show up on the Wilson story perhaps quite soon." Seymour Hersh would be nice...
Speaking of bylines: The Howler deconstructs a piece by Jennifer Harper of the Washington Times. It seems that in her coverage of public opinion "beyond the Beltway" she manages not to mention that 82 percent of the American people called The Plame Affair "serious" until the last third of the piece. Isn't 82% is a lot of "beyond"?
UPDATE: AP gives detail on a memo from White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales to White House staffers on how to comply with DOJ's request for more documents. Staffers have until Tuesday to turn everything over to him and will have to sign a "certificate" saying they've turned everything relevant over. The story says that Gonzales wants "electronic records, correspondence, computer records, notes and calendar entries." From DOD and State, however, DOJ wants "phone logs, e-mails and other documents." Interesting that phone logs (and cell phone bills?) are on DOJ's list, but not on the White House list. Just the reporting, or something more? Again, "some materials" ...
The Plame Affair today (is Bush off the hook?); versus Whitewater (back).
