Fitzgerald: Relevant leak-case 2003 WH emails are missing

[MIMIC]

White House records sought in CIA leak case may be missing

WASHINGTON (AP) - Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is raising the possibility records sought in the CIA leak investigation could be missing because of an e-mail archiving problem at the White House.

The prosecutor in the criminal case against U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff said in a Jan. 23 letter not all e-mail was archived in 2003, the year President George W. Bush's administration exposed the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame.

Lawyers for defendant Lewis (Scooter) Libby this week accused prosecutors of withholding evidence the Libby camp said it needs to mount a defence.

"We are aware of no evidence pertinent to the charges against defendant Libby which has been destroyed," Fitzgerald wrote in a letter to the defence team.

But the prosecutor added: "In an abundance of caution, we advise you that we have learned that not all e-mail of the Office of Vice-President and the Executive Office of the President for certain time periods in 2003 was preserved through the normal archiving process on the White House computer system."

His letter was an exhibit attached to Libby's demand for more information from the prosecution.

Lea Anne McBride, a spokeswoman for Cheney, said the vice-president's office is co-operating fully with the investigation and referred questions to Fitzgerald's office.

Libby is charged with five counts of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI regarding how he learned of Plame's identity and what he did with the information.

The Presidential Records Act, passed by Congress in 1978, made it clear records generated in the conduct of official duties did not belong to the president or vice-president but were the property of the government.

The National Archives takes custody of the records when the president leaves office.

"Bottom line: accidents happen and there could be a benign explanation but this is highly irregular and invites suspicion," said Steve Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists government secrecy project.

"A particular subset of records sought in a controversial prosecution have gone missing," Aftergood said.

"I think what is needed is for the national archivist to ascertain what went wrong and how to ensure it won't happen again."

AP

[MADem]

1. Highly irregular and invites suspicion

That's putting it mildly!!!

That's a big stinking rat we're smelling...they must be desperate as hell!

[lovuian]

2. Everything is connected and There are NO coincidences!!!

If they try to say they did a wittle oopsie thats just NOT going to fly!!!:nopity:

[Kurovski]

3. How many minutes did Woods say she accidentally erased?

Oh, wait. Never mind.

Just a little Acid flashback.

[TomClash]

7. 18 1/2

for the record.

[Kurovski]

4. Here's a link in the Canadian Press from the AP,

Your link doesn't seem to work, at least for me.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=be537749-ac2b-4885-b582-9af479ef2fd5&k=45315

[radfringe]

5. maybe Fitzgerald

needs to look under rugs or in closets for the memos...


oops...I know --- the memos are executive priviledge to protect the confidentiality of advisors, or a fall under national security

in either excuse - the bushies are in no hurry to find them

[acmavm]

6. Did anyone in their right mind really thing... Forget it. Asking these

crooks for records of ANYTHING is pointless.

[EuroObserver]

8. The relevant emails are probably to be found

in some military- or civil-intelligence echelon-type data mine somewhere...

[rodeodance]

9. "an e-mail archiving problem at the White House"---umm.....

[JerseygirlCT]

10. I'm not too keen on that finger shaking and

"just don't let it happen again" solution.

This is just more evidence of an administration-wide consipiracy and cover-up.

[stop the bleeding]

11. Yep - I about fell over when I saw this story had made the AP in a matter

of hours from the time it was first reported in the blogosphere.

I put a similar thread to this one in the GD around 10:30 last night I think.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=302232&mesg_id=302232



on edit: added link

[Tesla]

12. 2006's version of erased tapes.....

wonder who erased the tapes oh so many years ago.......Dicky???

[HereSince1628]

13. So why would Libby's attorneys leak this?

Well, because it is favorable to Libby in some way.

And this surely leads in some direction that Libby's defense wants everyone to know.

I suspect this is more of "I can't get a fair trial." This time the argument will be that inadvertant destruction of evidence denies Libby his opportunity to establish his innocence.

[janx]

24. Probably. Not that it will do much good.

The fact that Fitzgerald KNOWS those emails are missing must have Libby's lawyers' heads spinning.

[HereSince1628]

25. If Fitz can turn that into another obstruction of justice or conspiracy

charge inside Cheney's office that would be great.

But with respect to Libby, Fitz knowing that they once existed doesn't counter the probable claim by Libby's attorneys that Libby is denied opportunity for an adequate defense.

Fitz will need to show that emails (whose content he obviously can't establish directly) have no relevance to the charges against Libby.

I'm not saying that can't be done.

[0007]

14. Perhaps for this year's White House comedy act junior and Gonzales

can play like they're looking for those missing e-mails, much like junior did in his skit with the WMD's?

I'm sure his audience will die laughing when they look up Dick Cheney's butt.

[Tin Man]

15. Bigger than Watergate

What's it gonna be like when the Prez and VP face impeachment together?

[Paradise]

16. soooooo,

how does one get an email archiving problem? that is, just-in-case one happens to need one ;-)

[Jackpine Radical]

19. Oops--we just accidentally erased all the Plamegate emails

by running the disks through our double-super-secret Pentagon file eradicator program & the disks were then somehow inadvertently removed & left in the trunk of a wrecked car that went through a junkyard car crusher. Dang. And those disks were only out of our sight for a minute, too. Well, accidents will happen.

[Paradise]

46. lol! have you ever thought of writing a book :) n/t

[tblue37]

42. I am reminded of a joke about two old friends

in NY City who had not seen each other for a while. One asks, "So, how ya been doin?"

His old pal responds, "Well, things were a little complictaed for a while last year, because my factory burned to the ground. Thank God I was well insured!"

"Yes, thank God," his friend replied. "I know how hard it can be when something like that hits you. Fortunately I was also well-insured when I lost my own factory last year to a flood."

"A flood!" his friend cried. "A flood!? How the hell do you start a flood?"

[Paradise]

47. lol! this is the second good laugh i've had this morning. thanks. n/t

[BlueEyedSon]

17. Dupe?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x296760

[plasticsundance]

18. Highly suspicious

Every major government and corporation has a record management program that deals with retention. If they're missing, it was purposeful.

[wishlist]

20. So slimy of Libby to accuse Fitz of withholding when it was WH fault

Glad that Fitz and prosecutor are making it clear where the responsibility lies for any missing evidence.

[robbedvoter]

21. I think Dan Rather stole them. Or Bill Clinton. yeah, that's the ticket!

[Felix Mala]

22. The Veep's staff is doing everything they can to help Fitzgerald out

They just need to know where he came in...

The people of the United States deserve to know whether or not Dick Cheney is a crook...

[wicket]

23. It's not the crime, it's the coverup!!!!

:kick: :kick:

[janx]

28. Well in this case

it's both!

[savemefromdumbya]

26. Jeb bush is doing a lot of shredding too

they have been busy covering their tracks - that's why they are all still smiling - except for Abramoff.

[PRETZEL]

27. couple of different ways to look at this, all bad for Libby.....

One way I see this is that Libby knew that these emails were destroyed and has decided not to fall on his sword. He's setting someone else up for an obstruction charge once it's determined that this was a deliberate act and not just poor archiving. If he knew they were destroyed he more than likely also knows who destroyed them. But unless he makes a deal, then he's basically admitted he obstructed justice.

The other way I see this is that they thought that Fitz did indeed have the emails but chose not to present them to the GJ as he felt he didn't need it in order to have the indictment handed up. It wouldn't suprise me if Fitz has evidence that could be used at trial that was not presented earlier. My guess in this regard was to try to paint Fitz as withholding exculpatory evidence from them. They took a chance in thinking that Fitz did indeed have the emails as they would have probably have been in included in the evidentiary subpoena for any and all records relating to Ms. Plame.

[janx]

29. Ya think Fitzgerald has been dabbling in Cheney office

electronics? ;-)

[dave29]

32. I thought so too - but

reading the full letter it becomes clear there has been NO effort on the prosecutor's (or his staff's) part to obtain this or other types of information without a warrant.

It does not say anything about the FBI, though :)

[janx]

34. I didn't mean to imply that Fitzgerald wouldn't use a warrant.

Of course he would. And I think he has, probably on more than one occasion!

[dave29]

36. Sorry, I got my implication wrong: here is the exact text from the letter

I just meant to say, they have not, yet :)

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Fitzgerald_admits_White_House_may_have_0201.html

(page six)

There have been no search warrants executed and no communications intercepted pursuant to title III at the direction of the prosecution team during the course of the investigation

parsing this leaves a world of other scenarios open, though:

"at the direction of the prosecution team" leaves open the possibility that any other individual the prosecution has talked to or maybe even the FBI may have done so - and provided the prosecution with that information.

[janx]

39. It appears that they haven't had to!

Thanks for this link. I downloaded the whole letter and am going to try to read it before getting ready for work. :hi:

[dave29]

40. np! I'm

already at work

shhhhhhhhhhhhh

[PRETZEL]

33. Not unless he had a warrant for them,

Libby, on the other hand,........................... If Libby knows these emails were originated from Cheney's (or one of his aides) offices, then that's a different story.

[shanti]

30. how convenient....

:grr:

[janx]

31. I wouldn't worry much. The fact that Fitzgeral convened a new

grand jury tells me that this case has a long way to go. And the fact that he is aware of a small lack of evidence tells me that he has plenty.

[Roy]

35. Is there irony here????

Sounds like the Libby defense team in attempting to press the Fitzgerald team exposed the fact that not all evidence was turned over to prosecutors and may have even been destroyed?

These guys sure know how to commit suicide, don't they?

[dave29]

37. It's a standard fishing expedition

to see how much they can learn about the case against Libby.

[wordpix2]

38. hello: Obstruction of justice! Not that we're surprised...

[underpants]

41. *Anyone remember how the WH asked for 12 hours that last night.?????

They asked that the order- to save all relevant emails be saved- NOT be sent for 12 hours. No one remembers that?

[loudsue]

44. I remember it well, underpants. The justice (Asscroft) department told

White House atty. GONZALES, if I remember correctly, and they had 12 hours before Justice "officially" issued the order to turn over all the evidence. Now, Gonzales is the atty. general.

How conveeenient!!

:kick:

[underpants]

45. Yep I remember it being reported on ABC WNT

and the next morning The Today show stated matter of factly that at 7 AM the order would be issued.

Amazing, they openly negotiated time to destroy evidence.

[Matilda]

43. Can't they examine the hard drives?

My understanding is the hard drive can't be erased, and there have been a couple of cases in
Australia where people have been convicted after their computer hard drives were examined and
incriminating evidence found and used against them.

[Lerkfish]

48. well, the problem is 12 hours is long enough to install new hard drives,

and only copy over the nonincriminating evidence.

That's the problem with allowing potential suspects to have unfettered control over the evidence.

[against all enemies]

49. Funny how the truth never comes out in this White House.

[bleedingheart]

50. For this alone, someone should do jail time...

sorry but if they let the Bush Admin get away with "losing stuff" then it sets a dangerous precedent.

[GoldenOldie]

51. Pooof! Any documentation reflecting Georgie's lack of integrity .......

quickly disappears.

All TANG records between initial entry and pilot training in Texas and his Discharge papers have vanished into the unknown?????

All of his police arrests for drunkeness, etc., etc., have disappeared from public record, simply by the nible fingers of the magician.

Some magicians these BFEE members.