Credibility gap?
On the evening of Monday, Sept. 29, 2003, then-White House Chief Counsel Alberto Gonzales had a choice. He had just received formal notice from the Department of Justice that the White House was the subject of a criminal investigation as a result of White House officials’ leaking the identity of an undercover CIA agent, Valerie Plame, as part of an effort to discredit her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV.
Gonzales did not immediately alert the White House staff to the investigation, explaining the need to safeguard germane documents. Instead, he asked Justice Department lawyers if he could notify the staff in the morning. Because the call came in after 8:00 p.m. on a weekday, and most of the personnel had left the building, the attorneys agreed. Gonzales, before wrapping up his day, called White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card to notify him of the start of the probe. Twelve hours later, Gonzales informed his colleagues that they must “preserve all materials” relevant to the investigation.
…This delay took on renewed significance last week. The New York Daily News reported that Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor investigating the Plame scandal, told lawyers representing Libby that “many emails from [Vice President] Cheney’s office at the time of the Plame leak in 2003 have been deleted contrary to White House policy.” The computer system at the White House is supposed to automatically archive emails sent by the president and his aides. For reasons that are still unclear, these emails – which may or may not be relevant to the Plame investigation – were not preserved.</i>
Did these traitors not even bother to watch “All the Presidents Men” or perhaps read a book on Watergate? Fools.
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