When it comes to those missing emails from Dick Cheney’s office, this is exactly the kind of Plame-related conversation, on CNN no less, that the White House doesn’t want to hear.
Wolf Blitzer: [W]hen I hear a story like this, it hearkens back, I remember, of course, some of those missing tapes during Watergate and the Nixon White House that evidence may have been destroyed. This may be totally, totally overreaching. There may be a simple explanation, but the fact that the prosecutor writes this letter saying what happened to this — to these e-mails, that raises certain questions.
Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin: And certainly the Iran-Contra affair was based almost entirely on electronic messages, so-called prof notes sent between Oliver North and colleagues. They have been crucial evidence in all White House investigations. What happened to them? A lot of things get destroyed in the normal course of business. Why were the normal procedures not followed? As you point out, could be completely innocent. But we just don’t know.
Did you notice how both of the two biggest political scandals of the 20th century — Watergate and Iran-Contra — were mentioned in those two paragraphs? I thought you might.
A national AP story followed up on the original revelations about the missing emails today, noting that Patrick Fitzgerald is inquiring about email that was supposed to be archived — but wasn’t.
It’s worth noting, of course, that Fitzgerald told Libby’s defense team, “We are aware of no evidence pertinent to the charges against defendant Libby which has been destroyed.” Then again, that doesn’t mean the missing emails are irrelevant, only that prosecutors don’t know whether the materials are relevant or not.
As Steve Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists’ government secrecy project, said, “Bottom line: Accidents happen and there could be a benign explanation, but this is highly irregular and invites suspicion.”
That seems fair. It’s not as if the Bush White House, or Dick Cheney’s office in particular, has earned the benefit of the doubt at this point.
I was particularly fond of Digby’s perspective on this.
These missing Cheney e-mails are very intriguing. This is particularly so because we went though a similar event during the Clinton administration and the Republicans went completely ape-shit over it. In 2000, it was revealed (through the machinations of Judicial Watch) that some emails had not been properly archived and it was suspected that some of Monica Lewinsky’s had not been turned over as a result. Dan Burton held hearings and the Independent Counsel, Robert Ray, was assigned to look into it.
Yes, I remember this well. The Clinton White House’s system had some missing emails — remember, in the ’90s, emails were no where near as ubiquitous as they are now and the president himself rarely used the system — due to what officials described as a technical breakdown. The new-and-improved system is supposed to work — and yet there’s this Cheney-related problem anyway.
The House GOP flipped out when it applied to Clinton. Let’s see how long it takes for some of the very same lawmakers, in the same chamber, and with the same oversight responsibilities, to act in a consistent fashion. As Digby put it, “[T]here is ample precedent for a full-on congressional hissy fit and a thorough special counsel investigation.”
All true. But I’m still not holding my breath waiting for House Republicans to take their duties seriously.