Gonzales apparently NOT probing Cheney exemption

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/06/24/gonzales-apparently-not-probing-cheney-exemption/

Gonzales apparently not probing Cheney exemption.

After Vice President Cheney’s office refused to follow a presidential order on classification procedures, National Archives official J. William Leonard asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to have the Office of Legal Counsel help solve the impasse. Justice Dept. officials said last week that the matter has been “under review” for five months. But it appears that’s not the case:

(O)n June 4, an OLC lawyer denied a Freedom of Information Act request about the Cheney dispute asserting that OLC had “no documents” on the matter… Steve Aftergood, the Federation of American Scientists researcher who filed the request, said he found the denial letter “puzzling and inexplicable” — especially since Leonard had copied OLC chief Steve Bradbury on his original letter to Gonzales. The FOIA response has piqued the interest of congressional investigators, who note Bradbury is the same official in charge of vetting all document requests from Congress about the U.S. attorneys flap. Asked about the apparent discrepancy, Justice spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the OLC response “was and remains accurate” because Leonard’s letter had generated no “substantive work product.”

House oversight chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) now says he will investigate Gonzales’ handling of the issue.

[spanone]

1. The world is Shocked, Shocked I tell ya! Go Henry Waxman

[Rosemary2205]

2. Snicker.

as if I expected anything else. :)

[Spazito]

3. The fact that Gonzales, as AG, has NOT responded to Leonard's

request tells me Gonzales cannot find even the flimsiest excuse to back Cheney up so he chooses to not respond at all to delay both the FOIA request and any action by the National Archives.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

6. He's too busy fighting corruption right now to be bothered

with such banal events.

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?id=68579

Gonzales Tells Colleagues He'll Finish Term
June 22, 2007
Bill Torpy -- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

snip> "He made no reference to the battle swirling over his job but said his "personal attention" would be devoted to four areas of law enforcement that also included fighting terror and public corruption."

[realisticphish]

4. My God!

this is completely unexpected!

[rodeodance]

5. oh come, it has only been 4-5 months. It takes TIME to 'make' up stuff!

[gordianot]

7. Gonzo probably just forgot, remember he is severely memory impaired.

No Emails, memos, or written requests are available.

[progressoid]

8. That was my first thought.

Plus, he's got a lot on his plate so even if he could remember, he probably wouldn't have time to deal with these petty things.

[blogslut]

9. Perhaps Mr. Waxman should subpoena Mr. Bradbury

:)