Conyers, Sanchez Seek Rove's RNC Emails (by John Nichols for The Nation)

BLOG | Posted 04/13/2007 @ 11:52am
Conyers, Sanchez Seek Rove's RNC Emails


The burgeoning congressional focus on the supposedly "missing" emails of White House political czar Karl Rove and almost two dozen other presidential aides who were doing political work on the taxpayers' dime is not limited to questions about the eight U.S. Attorneys who were fired after at least some of them reportedly failed to politicize their prosecutions.

A new letter issued by key members of the House Judiciary Committee specifically expresses concerns that push the inquiry beyond the eight to look at the potential that some of the 85 U.S. Attorneys who were not fired may have been kept on because they used their powers in a manner that pleased Rove and his minions.

While working in the White House, Rove and at least 21 other aides used computer accounts set up by the Republican National Committee to allow them to do political work from their federal offices.

House Judiciary Committee chair Chairman Rep. John Conyers ☼ Jr., D-Michigan, and Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, D-California, who chairs the Judiciary subcommittee that is leading the investigation into wrongdoing by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and others linked to the U.S. Attorneys scandal, have asked Republican National Committee Chairman Robert Duncan for e-mails and other documents. Of course, following what has become standard operating procedure for the White House and its allies at the U.S. Attorneys scandal has developed, the RNC claims that key emails have gone missing.

Digital digressions aside, the letter from Conyers and Sanchez telegraphs an important evolution of the inquiry.
...(snip)...

The duel over access to the emails -- which computer experts generally agree can be found -- will play out in coming days.

But don't miss the key development here.

The Conyers-Sanchez letter represents another important move by the House and Senate judiciary committees to expand the U.S. Attorneys inquiry beyond a precise focus on the fired prosecutors.

Conyers and Sanchez, along with their Senate colleagues, are beginning to ask vital questions about whether any of the 85 U.S. Attorneys who were not fired used their offices to mount political prosecutions during an election season that was of critical concern to the Bush White House. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=185976

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