Bush aides will review leak notes
White House lawyers will review phone logs and other records supplied by presidential aides before turning the documents over to the Justice Department officials conducting the investigation into who leaked a CIA undercover operative's identity, officials said Monday.The disclosure inspired new Democratic calls for an independent inquiry.
"To allow the White House counsel to review records before the prosecutors would see them is just about unheard of in the way cases are always prosecuted," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., speaking on NBC's Today show. "And the possibility of mischief, or worse than mischief, is very, very large."
Josh Marshall also suspects the worst:
It seems from the description in the article that the White House is getting to decide which documents the investigators get and which they don’t without having to go to the trouble, the contest, or the political fall-out of actually exerting privilege ... If the Justice Department investigators have acquiesced in this scheme that also gives me the impression that they’re falling, shall we say, rather short of the Ken Starr level of zealousness.
Maybe I'm giving the Bushies too large a benefit of the doubt (which would be a first) but that's not how I read the article. I didn't see any suggestion that Gonzales is going to withhold documents, just review them.
Which doesn't seem all that out of the ordinary, even in a criminal investigation. Using Josh's own test, it's hard to believe the Clinton White House would have turned this kind of stuff over to a team of prosecutors without at least looking at it first.
On the other hand, the White House says the review process could take two weeks or more, which does seem suspiciously long. Maybe the Rovians are trying to run down the clock -- in hopes the media frenzy will abate before Gonzales finally gets around to claiming executive privilege.
Or maybe Gonzales really does need that much time to plough through the heap. Not everything this White House does is part of a criminal conspiracy. Although the odds sometimes seem to favor it.
In any case, claiming executive privilege would be about the dumbest thing the White House could do right now -- almost as dumb as withholding evidence without claiming privilege, which itself would be a crime. Bush might just as well put on a Nixon mask and go to this year's White House Halloween Party as an unindicted co-conspirator.
So I don't necessarily see the document review as proof the cover up is still in progress -- or, more precisely, that the White House Counsel is part of the cover up. But I imagine I could be persuaded otherwise.
Maybe I'm giving the Bushies too large a benefit of the doubt
Three years ago, despite grave misgivings and a stolen election, I would also have been charitable to this strange group of self deceiving puppets.
Three years later, their unblemished track record of deceit, bad intent, and general failure as civilized 21st century homo sapiens disqualifies them from any considerations whatsoever.
I will not give them the benefit of the doubt for three seconds. They are trying to prop up their lying house of cards with yet another misdirection. Unlike our president, an honest man would resolve this problem and make it old news in one week.
Above unsigned scribe at at October 7, 2003 06:19 PM is by me.
I think it would be a mistake to assume that the documents handed over by the White House would be helpful in any way. It would be an act of extreme integrity for the White House to turn a "smoking gun" document over, and this White House is, to put it mildly, not known for integrity.
I strongly suspect this story will continue to be leak-driven. At some point, the same WaPo counterleaker(s) as before will let another tidbit loose, when and if they see the investigation threatening to stall. That's clearly the motivation behind the previous proddings -- and unless that motivation suddenly changes, I don't see the leaks stopping.
At some point, if the White House does not "investigate" itself to its enemies' satisfaction, we are going to be leaked the names of the people involved. If not by the WaPo source, then by a journalist or two who wants to see the story play out, either for ethical reasons or purely for the continuing high-profile circus value.
This is beginning to look more Watergate-esque by the day, isn't it?
These developments made very angry and so I called my senators to ask for a special prosecutor.
I suspect the real purpose is to either figure out who to sacrifice to try and nip this in the bud or, more likely, to get a feel for what's going to come out so the Rove machine can begin the spin job.
They couldn't possibly be stupid enough to think they can suppress evidence, could they?
isn't the media tipping point for a scandal supposed to be 11 days? We are at 10 now if we count the Sunday Post piece as the start. If Bushco can't kill the media interest by then I guess we might have a real story. If the theory is correct of course...
All Plame all the time sounds good to me.
Another nice juicy leak or lead would help. Wonder how good the leakers are at this game?
On the other hand, the White House says the review process could take two weeks or more, which does seem suspiciously long.
...especially since cheney said (mtp, 9/14/03) that he had never even HEARD of Wilson!!!
well, no, the WH atty doesn't always get to review. DOJ can just show up and take hard drives, file cabinets, etc. and review them and decide what's important. I believe at least some of that happened to Clinton over the blue dress.
Somewhere in this whole process, the White House issued a reminder to its staff that WH counsel (Gonzales) represents the WH, not individuals who work there. (Their polite way of saying, 'Scooter, go get yourself a good lawyer.') That said, I wonder how this affects things if it is Cheney who is involved? This WH has been spending a lot of energy trying to protect vice-executive privilege (and the Judicial Watch/Sierra Club suit is headed for SC or bust). So does that mean Gonzales protects Dick because he is part (the head) of the executive, or does he simply insulate Bush.
I also think that one of the biggest problems with this investigation is that it allows the WH to crack down on internal dissension. Presumably, whoever leaked to Dana Priest and Mike Allen may need to provide some record of what he knows, since it relates to Plame. So it is an easy way for Bush to sniff out who outed his outer.
But I also wonder whether this prospect might be the one that would convince one of the independent republicans capabale of calling for a special prosecutor (the McCain types) to get sufficiently concerned that this will lead to a highly bloody internecine conflict (and a totally disfunctional administration) that it would be better to take the information out of administration hands. Think about it. Say Powell leaked the leaker (not likely, I know, but possible). If you're McCain, and it begins to look like Bush is using Ashcroft's DOJ to take out Powell, then you might have reason to prefer an independent prosecutor.
Anyway, just random thoughts.
One of the things that makes me suspicious is that they (as always) claim national security as one of their justifications. That's clearly a lie, because if that were actually the case, then the person reviewing them wouldn't be the White House counsel. The only reason I can think of for review by the White House counsel is legal implications, and trying to figure out what they can legally hide. That's why I think it's fair to assume the only purpose is a coverup.
Nixon tried covering up also. Anyone doubt that the CIA has the text of the missing eighteen minutes buried somewhere? It might have come in very handy if Nixon had survived imeachment.
If the CIA in toto is as competent as people fear they are, they already have everything that Bush seeks to hide. This will be dribbled out as needed to keep him off-balance. If they aren't as competent as people fear they are, then some brave soul in Congress should take the hint and open up the crypts to see what bodies are buried where. What could the CIA do to stop them?
Pessimist (I actually typed Pessimint first, a flavor for our time.),
Your comments bring up a good point. Perhaps the lip service the WH is giving now, today calling it a 'criminal' act, is part of a defensive strategy to deal with any forthcoming leaks from the CIA should the Pythonesque inquisition get stalled.
I actually saw in an article someplace that the White House faces a number of DOJ deadlines over the next two weeks.
If that's the case, it would suggest that certain types of material may be given more time, and other types less time.
What I don't get, with all these Nixon-era types in the White House, is that they don't understand that stalling just looks bad. Look at Watergate. Bush would gain points if he just admitted that Rove and "?" leaked the info. Said that he was determined to clean house. Is Rove so fundamental to his re-election? Bush has so much money, a lot of supporters and I assume "sane" people who can advise him. I don't get it.
I just can't comprehend the Bush mind(?) and don't want to.
That was me.
Well now I believe that this isn't really a lawsuit yet so Gonzales shouldn't be retaining records, at least it's not a lawsuit yet as I'm sure Wilson's lawyer hasn't filed for discovery yet. So really Gonzales shouldn't need to hold up the docs especiallys since the Justice Department has ask for by NOW.
It just sounds like the Bushies are doctoring documents or destroy the records. Attorney General Ashroft ask for the docs to be gather at a certain time so the DoJ could look at them -NOT so Gonzales could look at them for over two weeks. No charges have been formally filed so this bit with Gonzales should be followed up with a polygraph to all concerned.
I guess the only good news is that someone or some persons in Bush's administraive have been disclosing to the media that two know officials pushed for the media to expose Wilson's wife as a CIA member so Bush does seem to have a deep throat problem.
Perhaps this would be an opportunity for Tenet to drop that other shoe he's been clutching?
It would not be so unusual for the White House counsel to review the documents. If this were some kind of civil lawsuit, he would be expected to prepare a "privilege log" of documents he has reviewed, but not produced due to some asserted privilege. If the DOJ wanted to see them, I am sure there is some mechanism for it to do so.
But this is really a stalling tactic. The buzz on this story has completely died down, and I think the White House thinks it can get lost in the next hurricane story or Cubs-Sox World Series or something.
It just galls me that Bush says it is not likely the investigation will turn up anything, when he could get to the bottom of it in less than a day --if he wanted to.
The White House obviously thinks the public is a bunch of dopes, and we aren't doing too much to dispel that presumption.
I will have to remember this tactic so that when Ashcroft and his stormtroopers kick down my door and say they are there to search my house because of alleged criminal activity, I will tell them they will have to wait until my lawyer spends a day or two checking everything out first before they can come in and look....right?
It is a stall technique. Bush's statements yesterday, with his main men sitting next to him, indicate that they believe they have the solution. The solution may be stonewall, it has served them well in the last 3 years. They also know the press/media will cooperate to bury this. And that is the big difference between this affair and Watergate. The Press attacked Watergate. The Press is IN ON this one. There is no law that protects these reporters, just custom. Lets arrest Novak and see how long he can remain smug. Face it, many people know the names of the leakers and yet there is this huge overblown investigation already caught up in stonewalling. Somebody has to give up a name or this will just fade away.
Is your Dr. Robert Joseph countdown clock started yet?
It should.
Lawyers know: The point of the exercise for the White House Counsel's office is not to withhold documents and claim privilege. That usually requires the withholding party to list the documents on a "privilege log," which states the sender, receipient(s), type of document, subject matter, and privilege claimed.
Note well what Scott McClellan kept saying: He kept saying that the WHC would review the documents for "relevance" and "responsiveness." This is how lawyers play the game; by reading the document request as narrowly as possible, they'll try to withhold as many documents as possible by claiming they're not relevant to the request. You'd better believe that they'll think of excuses why every unsavory document that turns up is somehow not relevant to the request. I suspect that unless "Novak," "Wilson," or "Plame" appears on the document's face, it'll drop into the "non-responsive" category.
And here's the kicker: Those documents need not be listed on a privilege log. Furthermore, in normal litigation, the people on the other side are actively searching for documents, and they'll go to court multiple times to get what they think you're withholding as non-responsive. Do we really think the Justice Department will do that here?
The White House has had about a week to shred these documents. This "review" will be for enforcing internal discipline: it'll catch anyone who had a juicy document and failed to shred it, so that Card (or whoever) can slap his wrist with a ruler.
Seriously: If there isn't a cover-up in progress, there is certainly a reluctance to confront hard truths.