Rove’s Lawyer Acknowledges Rove Emails From 2003 Missing From White House Archives
Rove’s Lawyer Acknowledges Rove Emails From 2003 Missing From White House Archives
In its report documenting the White House’s destruction of five million emails, CREW also reminded us that in January 2006, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald informed the Scooter Libby defense team that some of Rove’s emails from his White House account in 2003 were not saved as required by federal law. The key portion of Fitzgerald’s letter:
CNN’s Ed Henry talked to Rove lawyer Robert Luskin today about the missing emails. Luskin admitted, “There was a gap there. … I have no reason to doubt Patrick Fitzgerald.” Watch it:
The controversy surrounding Rove this week has involved his RNC email account. The RNC acknowledged that, while they instituted a new policy in 2004 to preserve emails, there appear to be no records from White House senior political adviser Karl Rove until 2005, leaving open “the possibility that Rove had personally deleted the missing e-mails.” According to the RNC, the Committee took action specifically and singularly against Rove in 2005 to keep him “from deleting his e-mails from the RNC server.”
With respect to Rove’s White House account, federal law requires the preservation of all such messages. Missing emails could be a violation of the Presidential Records Act. The revelations first reported by Patrick Fitzgerald, now given new life because of the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, raise questions about whether the public is getting the full story on these or other White House scandals.
UPDATE: Christy Hardin Smith has a statement from Patrick Fitzgerald’s spokesman:
I had e-mailed Patrick Fitzgerald’s spokesperson last night to see if he had any comment on Mr. Rove’s alleged deletion of e-mails from the RNC server during the time that the investigation would have been ongoing. I just got a response from Randall Samborn that, indeed, the office was aware of the reporting on this matter, that he had received not only my questions but a number of others from news organizations, but that he would be “declining comment (of course) to questions about this matter.”
UPDATE II: CREW is asking Patrick Fitzgerald to re-open investigation of Rove’s role in the Plame leak, in light of the missing emails.
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65 Responses to “Rove’s Lawyer Acknowledges Rove Emails From 2003 Missing From White House Archives”
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Federal law does NOT require the preservation of POLITICAL messages. Any such e-mails could NEVER be a violation of the Presidential Records Act.
April 13th, 2007 at 4:37 pmCan't we get these felons off the public payroll--even if we can't kick them out of their leadership positions until after a long impeachment?
April 13th, 2007 at 4:42 pmFor more on the missing emails and DOJ document dumps as well as the latest news, email archives, hearings, legal filings and other essential documents on the Bush DOJ prosecutor firings, see:
April 13th, 2007 at 4:42 pm"The U.S. Attorney Scandal Documents."
I put that wonderful photoshop of Karl being frogmarched out of the White House back on my computer. Please, God, let this be a more spectacular fall than Tricky Dicky Nixon.
April 13th, 2007 at 4:44 pmI know it's cute when he begs, but please, people, don't feed the trolls.
April 13th, 2007 at 4:45 pmLOL Jake if you yell loud enough is it true?? I do seem to recall that they are legally required to use their government accounts when discussing government business, which the firing of 8 USAG, and replacemnts of said AG's do come under government business.
More to the point, Rove, and the rest of the White House aware, that what was being discussed should never come to light purposely used no government accounts to hide the records. I doubt that the records leahy wants will see the light of day. This does illustrate, that their is no moral superiorty.
April 13th, 2007 at 4:48 pmflotron9:
Which CONVICTED felons are on the public payroll? Now, I've got some CONVICTED felons down in Florida who are trying to get back on the voter-registration rolls -- if you want to talk about those?
April 13th, 2007 at 4:49 pmI wish I had the antacid supply account for the White House.
April 13th, 2007 at 4:50 pmFederal law does NOT require the preservation of POLITICAL messages. Any such e-mails could NEVER be a violation of the Presidential Records Act. Comment by Jake — April 13, 2007 @ 4:37 pm
Another federalist society wanna-be lawyer. Sorry Jake, but we don't listen to 12 year olds, that plot to blow up the NYTimes building. Go play with your XBOX and let the adults talk.
April 13th, 2007 at 4:51 pmJake.
All communications that are not deemed Top Secret that come out of the WH must be archived. These Criminals work for the citizen's of the United States, and therefore all info coming in and out of the WH must be documented. All because of Nixon in the 70s.
This is going to be the downfall of this WH
April 13th, 2007 at 4:51 pmflotron9: Which CONVICTED felons are on the public payroll? Now, I’ve got some CONVICTED felons down in Florida who are trying to get back on the voter-registration rolls — if you want to talk about those? Comment by Jake — April 13, 2007 @ 4:49 pm
If they've done their time, and now pay taxes, why shouldn't they also get representation? The point of going to prison, is you pay your debt to society. Did you know Jake, the *pretend* laywer, we're one of the few nations in the civilized world that has this sort of taxation without representation? Ironic considering the Boston Tea party, don't you think?
As for whether these *felons* are convicted or not. That's more of an indictment on the corrupt previous justice department and Congress, than it is a *glowing* statement of their innocence. I'm sure you think the President of Iran is super duper, just because he's not a *convicted* felon as well? You're an idiot Jake, just a reminder.
April 13th, 2007 at 4:54 pmThese Criminals work for the citizen’s of the United States, and therefore all info coming in and out of the WH must be documented. All because of Nixon in the 70s. This is going to be the downfall of this WH Comment by rich deermeat — April 13, 2007 @ 4:51 pm
In the previous thread, Jake said the NYTimes building should be blown up, he's not exactly a *rational* or *legal-minded* individual. Lets just say he has more in common with Osama, than Obama!
April 13th, 2007 at 4:55 pmWould Rove be insulated from the Hatch Act with an ignorance defense? Doesn't seem reasonable for his position, security clearances, etc... (i.e. even if we take the White House at their word...which isn't worth much, I'm not sure that at this high level of office that ignorance is a defense)
April 13th, 2007 at 4:55 pmThe White (House) zone is for deleting (and recovering) emails only!
my goal is to find a cure for irony and make a fool outta god
April 13th, 2007 at 4:58 pmAnd this is my gift to TP'ers. Jake has just violated the "ignore list" by responding to me:
The FIRST job of the government is to PROTECT the people. Jake
Um, I thought it was to uphold the Constitution? Or has that changed since 9/11?
Comment by barfly — April 13, 2007 @ 4:22 pm
For the record, if all the People are killed by terrorists with suitcase nukes, it matters no longer to uphold the Constitution.
Comment by Jake — April 13, 2007 @ 4:24 pm
April 13th, 2007 at 4:58 pmrich deermeat:
Actually, the Presidential Records Act and specifically Executive Order 13233 include specific exemptions and constitutionally-based privileges in addition to "Top Secret", such as communications of the President or his advisors (the presidential communications privilege); legal advice or legal work (the attorney-client or attorney work product privileges); and the deliberative processes of the President or his advisors (the deliberative process privilege). YMMV.
April 13th, 2007 at 4:58 pmMicrosoft ate my homework.
I´m a bit reluctant about this "impeach."
We got 5mio lost email (wh workers on the heck whatsoever servers-RNC for example))+2.9 mio lost emails (doj) + 5 mio lost emails(wh house itself). Dozen hundred + the ninety x thousand.
Furthermore we got Gonzales. We got 60 people in Baghdad a day saying ´bye bye.´ We got Iranian nuclear armament. And suddenly we got some no-communist winner, Mr. Berezowsky suddenly calling for revolution,obviously hes suddenly to be investigated.
Well, Mr. Cheney shot his friend with a pump action. That wasn´t very nice.
Are you sure these guys will remain cool when impeached?
I mean we had Mr.Libby, we had Mr.Cunningham, we had Mr. Delay. We got ten times a day some bullshit about Mr.Rove. My friend, the guy who was RNC chairman for some time, Mr. Flourman (Mehlman) or whatsoever, said bye bye. The only one I can still see there is Mr. Schwarzenegger who fires a dmv chief all four weeks.
We got the Kerik-Giuliani Mafia and we got Mr.McCain who lost 40 workers of a market 4 hours after he visited the market.
Good. lets get back to these emails. If Rove says he didn´t delete them Bush deleted them. Or Cheney deleted them.
So the entire wh house system worked against the idea of publicity.
by the way we had some recent tragic fatality:
April 13th, 2007 at 5:00 pmpp
good. reopen the case. nail these criminals.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:00 pmMust be a Friday...
April 13th, 2007 at 5:01 pmComment by Badmoodman — April 13, 2007 @ 4:50 pm
good one!
:-D
April 13th, 2007 at 5:02 pmJake: You are correct--this administration is focused exclusively on POLITICS and spends little time on POLICY, hence the mess we are in. Karl Rove is in the White House not to make America better--he is there to help the GOP stay in power. I do have to compliment Rove on getting the biggest idiot in politics today elected president twice. Rove isn't going to need to worry about "voter fraud" and US Attorneys in 2008 because it will take a miracle to elect any Republicans in 2008.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:03 pmHow is it possible for them to argue any longer that Karl Rove has ANY business having a top secret security clearance????
This yahoo couldn't protect a warm cup of piss much less a national secret.
This misadministration has the worst OPSEC (Operational Security) record of any White House ever!
I agree with CREW: I think Mr Fitzgerald should reconvene the Grand Jury regarding these missing Rove emails. I also think that Rove should immediately relinquish his security clearance until the matter of his not properly securing government information (his emails, the identity of a CIA agent, etc) is completely cleared up.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:05 pm#21 AboveTheClouds
But remember, there are still 29%er Kool-Aid drinkers and some heavy Red States, and a lot of NeoCon and Corporate money, so we will NOT get all the Repugs out.... but maybe we will get the worst ones out.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:14 pmLooks like Rove broke the law - again! This time it will stick and he will be investigated and indicted.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:14 pmBut it all seems so innocent, my little trolls. Doesn't it?
April 13th, 2007 at 5:15 pmRove's "clearance" needs to be removed immediately with even the slightest suspicion of violating the Presidential Records Act! Do it now! This guy is a fraud and a danger to our national security.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:16 pmRove is the RNC. I don't believe for one minute that the RNC "took action against Rove regarding missing e-mails." If anything, the RNC had their best scrubbers removing Rove's tracks.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:16 pmLet's put pressure on Fitz to reconvene the grand jury and indict Rove for violation of the Presidential Records Act in the deletion of these emails. They can't have it both ways - either they admit that the firing of the attorneys was purely "political" and hence the use of off-site email addresses (not to be confused with "official business" of the White House) or they admit that they're in violation of the Presidential Records Act - either way, they're sunk!
April 13th, 2007 at 5:17 pmI really don't know why we are continuing to pay the hefty salaries of these criminals who flagrantly break our laws and remain in office???
April 13th, 2007 at 5:18 pmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo9BO00R2_w
Watch the 25 second marker of this clip and tell me that Bush and Rove weren't aware of what they were doing with emails.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:18 pmhttp://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/13/nyregion/13cnd-corzine.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Corzine in critical but stable condition
April 13th, 2007 at 5:18 pmFederal law does NOT require the preservation of POLITICAL messages. Any such e-mails could NEVER be a violation of the Presidential Records Act.
Comment by Jake
All documents (other than ones specifically under the HIPAA rules) on a government computer are consider public under the Freedom of Information Act. All emails are documents therefore are required to be available for the public to view AT ANY TIME.
I am a government employee, I am extremely familiar with this rule.
Go soak your head, Jake.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:19 pmI just love seeing how trolls (Jake-off) gets everyone's juices flowing. We definitely need more of that so we won't be lulled into complacency. Kudos village idiot troll! You've single-handedly recruited more posters to TP and more escapees to the Democratic side of things than any mass PR campaign could ever accomplish. Keep it up, bro!
April 13th, 2007 at 5:19 pm#27 Even with "scrubbing tracks", Rove's in a Catch-22 along with his jailbird bud, The Shrub.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:20 pm#32 you're right on and the people are pressing for these email documents because "we own them". They are not the property of this administration. If they don't cough them up, maybe we should put a stop to paying their salaries?? Money is their god and will definitely get their attention.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:21 pmSo much for that "Ignore List", barfly.
Well done!
:D
April 13th, 2007 at 5:23 pmJake, you raise an interesting point and a question. In the Presidential Records Act and in Executive Order 13233 that you mention, where does it state that it is permissible to delete said communications? The information that you have provided only states that the Executive Branch has the right to not release the information, but it does not say that they have the right to maintain said information and then delete it from existence.
I await your response...
April 13th, 2007 at 5:23 pm#33 I agree, veritas. Having Jake here is like throwing out a pinata to liven up a children's party. It's a great motivator to keep informed and stay involved, and to never let one's guard down so long as dangerous idiots like Jake prowl the political landscape.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:24 pmI'd like to invite all the righties and trolls to go to DC, and let their heroes piss on them in person, instead of doing it vicariously through news outlets and policy initiatives. I was aware there are people who enjoy the occasional "golden shower", but the GOP and their 30%ers really take it to a whole new level.
If your intelligence is not insulted by this "gang", and your conscience is not shocked by their broad-daylight crime spree, then you're a sick, sick puppy.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:25 pmThese regulations were put into place following the illegal activities and abuse of power of the Nixon administration.
After more than 6 years of Bush&Co, I find myself feeling a bit nostalgic for Nixon -- Bush has out done him in a thousand ways. Who'd-a-thunk Nixon would ever look better in comparison to anyone?
I remember when Bush said he would bring honor and dignity back into the White House, comparing his presidency to that of Clinton.
A president lying about a blow job in the oval office doesn't begin to compare to the crimes, lies and treason of the Bush White House.
As a side note, as official business was conducted on RNC computers/servers, or even on personal computers, where is the security? Innermost plans and projects discussed in the White House would therefore be subject to being hacked by anyone in the world who could gain access. Where is Homeland Security on this?
April 13th, 2007 at 5:26 pmmaddison66:
Covered documents are NOT allowed to be deleted -- POLITICAL documents produced by Rove outside of government resources are not covered documents, get it?
April 13th, 2007 at 5:31 pmThis country is going to be in a lot of trouble when Jake gets old enough to vote.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:32 pmMr. Fitzpatrick Goes (back) To Washington
April 13th, 2007 at 5:32 pm(You've got a great future ahead of you, sir!)
Rove is now directly in between two locomotives heading at full steam towards each other on the same track.......
Watch the 25 second marker of this clip and tell me that Bush and Rove weren’t aware of what they were doing with emails.
Comment by AHiddenSaint
God, that is truly scary. "I don't want it to be part of some show..." Good Lord.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:34 pmThis country is going to be in a lot of trouble when Jake gets old enough to vote.
Comment by Lupeyg2
HaHa!!
That's a good one. Thanks for the laugh.
Marie,
re: Nixon -
I have a button that says,
"I never thought I'd miss Nixon"
I wear it most days.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:37 pm:P
God, that is truly scary. “I don’t want it to be part of some show…†Good Lord.
Comment by Proud Dem — April 13, 2007
----------
I did a search for the clip yesterday after the email stuff started to break. I post more at dailykos, but this clip I've been trying to keep alive everywhere. Even though it is a older interview I think it relates to what is going on now. It's important for everyone to see and it needs to be showed on the MSM everytime they discuss this story. I just hope others will help in getting people to remember that interview and clip.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:45 pmFrom the document dump today, file number DAG2294-2519, p.165: email addressed to KR@georgewbush.com. The domain is registered to Bush-Cheney '04, Inc. We now have at least two email laundering locations.
April 13th, 2007 at 6:01 pmI don't know anything about the internets, the Googles, or the emails so I'm innocent! Silly me!
April 13th, 2007 at 6:13 pmWhy would Fitgerald's office give a 'no comment' if they weren't going to agree to Luskin's lob of a defense. "If Fitzgerald didn't have a problem, then we don't have a problem about the missing emails." Is Fitzgerald keeping his head down so he doesn't go the way of Iglesias, Lam, et all?
April 13th, 2007 at 6:22 pmFor these criminals there is no law.
April 13th, 2007 at 6:40 pmIt is plain to see that all they are required to do is say ' i've forgotten ' or ' there were mistakes, but I AM sorry ' or ' I don't specifically recall ' . . . . and at that point, it's like magic, . . . . . no prosecution, let's hand him/her the benefit of the doubt and some kind of meaningless trophy.
Sane American: Can you please name Ms. Sloan's (CREW) sources for the "five million missing e-mails?"
TP: Why, of course. Mr. Un-named Source, and Ms. Confidential Source.
Sane American: Ohhhhh, it's those guys, the Source's. Thank you.
TP: Gosh. Just doing our job, no need to thank us -- it's for the children.
Sane American: (sotto voce) Weird.
April 13th, 2007 at 7:19 pmIt's been a long time, but IT'S TIME TO TURN THE SCREW!
April 13th, 2007 at 7:41 pm#
Comment by stevesh — April 13, 2007 @ 7:19 pm
#
From cnn.com:
"Millions of White House e-mails may be missing, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino acknowledged Friday. "I wouldn't rule out that there were a potential 5 million e-mails lost," Perino said. A liberal watchdog group alleges that over a two-year period official White House e-mail traffic for hundreds of days has vanished -- in possible violation of the federal Presidential Records Act."
April 13th, 2007 at 7:55 pmSomeone has been watching too much 24. "Suitcase nukes" are fiction, they do not exist in the real world.
April 13th, 2007 at 8:03 pmSomeone has been watching too much 24. “Suitcase nukes†are fiction, they do not exist in the real world. Comment by lestatdelc — April 13, 2007 @ 8:03 pm
This is the *man* (cough) that claims to have been in military intel. Yeah, right. Jake is a fat, zit laden 12 year old home schooled boy. And a dum bass to boot.
April 13th, 2007 at 8:20 pmI have been listeng to talk radio all day, (both right and left) believe it or not but Fox News has not once brought up the missing email scanal
April 13th, 2007 at 9:23 pmI think the problem is that these emails are actually in the bulk folders. I think I found one from Karl Rove in my bulk email. Can anyone decode it? I think it's about undermining Pelosi and Reid, because of the word "scammers."
Dear Consumer,
You are Welcome to our online store.There is our catalog of exclusive,
high quality replica watches at your disposal. The visitors of our site
are provided with a great opportunity to purchase the most popular
replicas around the world.
Famous replica watches, and other replicas have become inexpensive and
most important of all a high quality substitution for original watches,
hence the huge popularity. Therefore it is very important to chose the
right replica retailer. The one with great quality products, good
customer support and warranty.
Also the cool thing about replicas is the fact that for the price of
April 13th, 2007 at 9:53 pmone original watch you can buy many replicas. Therefore you can get
watches of different brands, colors, etc. Or just buy just one replica, and
save a bunch of money. But be careful, there are many scammers out
there.
#56 Right wing humor...you can do it with a straight face.
April 13th, 2007 at 10:32 pmIf y'all don't mind, please consider sharing this with your elected official.
Dear
As you know, upon becoming President of the United States of America, an oath of office is taken that states: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. This is the most important duty of the office. The current President and administration has made numerous efforts to circumvent and disregard the very same thing he has been asked to uphold; the latest of which regards the keeping of official communications to and from the Executive Office of the President. While I can only speculate as to the reason for this disregard of official policy, it none the less shows the contempt this administration has for our Constitution, and it is just the latest example of such disdain. It is now your responsibility to our country and to our Constitution to implore Representative Pelosi to begin impeachment hearings.
In my opinion, the loss of five million e-mails is a blatant and willful violation of the Presidential Records Act, which might lead one to believe an intentional act of gross incompetance, destruction of evidence, and obstruction of justice.
Sincerely,
Turn the heat up and hold their feet to the flames.
April 13th, 2007 at 10:53 pm#58 I hear you RMS. I rarely email Feingold or Tammy Baldwin but Herb Kohl will get something very similar to that.
April 13th, 2007 at 10:59 pmFrom Fitzgerld's memo from January, 2006, discloses that there were missing e-mail from 2003 in conjunction with the Plame case. Outwardly it looks like the Whitehouse took no steps to try and recover that data although the 1978 law on presidential papers dictated that they be retain. Now I would think that if it was documented that data was missing that rigorus steps would have been taken to get into compliance with the law.
My guess is that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg regarding the quantity of e-mail missing, dating all the way back to 2001. Bush simply made a decider decision to not comply with this law just as he decided not to comply with the FISA law. In fact, there is an extensive pattern of picking and choosing which laws applied to them.
The worst President ever.
The most corrupt administration ever.
The most law-breaking administration ever.
Now, how is that for a trifecta.
April 13th, 2007 at 11:15 pm#60 My guess is that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg regarding the quantity of e-mail missing, dating all the way back to 2001
It is incredible to think that 5 million emails are a tip of any iceberg but I think you are probably right.
April 13th, 2007 at 11:21 pmCREW is doing its thing again.
April 14th, 2007 at 1:54 amFrom cnn.com:
“Millions of White House e-mails may be missing, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino acknowledged Friday. “I wouldn’t rule out that there were a potential 5 million e-mails lost,†Perino said. A liberal watchdog group alleges that over a two-year period official White House e-mail traffic for hundreds of days has vanished — in possible violation of the federal Presidential Records Act.â€
Comment by Chris L — April 13, 2007 @ 7:55 pm
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MS. PERINO: I'm not taking issue with their conclusions at this point. We're checking into them. And, again, there's 1,700 people in the Executive Office of the President.
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/04/20070413-6.html)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
hahahahahahahahahaha....CREW's talking about the whole ExecOffcPres..
You got to watch out for CNN, Chris L, they're sshlipperwee. And then TP double spins the ellipses. Oh, yeah, hahahahahahahaha...whoo.
Primary sources, amigo, primary sources.
April 14th, 2007 at 3:02 amCan you lose even one e-mail, let alone five million of them?
Alberto can call up the NSA and get copies of any e-mail or phone call anytime he wants (and prosecute anyone for any non-terrorist crime after his little fishing expedition).
So why doesn't Congress just get copies of all of Karl's e-mail from the NSA? I'm sure Karl, who still has security clearances, could ask for copies of his own e-mails --if the NSA will not give them to Congress.
April 14th, 2007 at 2:40 pm