The AP is reporting this morning that the Justice Department has officially launched a full-blown criminal investigation of the Wilson/Plame scandal. The White House has been notified of the investigation and White House counsel Al Gonzales has notified the White House staff to “preserve all materials that might in any way be related to the department’s investigation.” As the AP said, this would presumably include telephone logs, emails, and notes. (Josh Marshall obtained a copy of the Gonzales White House memo.)
This may not be satisfactory. Few can reasonably argue that John Ashcroft is impartial enough to launch an objective and unbiased investigation of his boss’ White House. Ashcroft’s conflict-of-interest is fairly obvious — he’s not only loyal to Bush, but Karl Rove, who may have been involved with the illegal leaks, was a former paid-consultant of Ashcroft.
Today’s announcement of the criminal investigation is an important step, but this will not silence calls for independent special counsel.