Gonzales Gave WH Staff 12 Hours to Shred CIA Leak Documents

At the time [when Gonzales was given permission to wait 12 hours before sealing White House documents], the Justice Department was run by John Ashcroft, who eventually recused himself from the case under pressure from Democrats who complained about his ties to Rove.

This is huge:

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Sunday that he notified White House chief of staff Andy Card after the Justice Department opened an investigation into who revealed a covert CIA officer’s identity, but waited 12 hours to tell anyone else in the executive mansion.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions Sunday about whether Card passed that information to top Bush aide Karl Rove or anyone else, giving them advance notice to prepare for the investigation.

Gonzales was White House counsel on Sept. 29, 2003, and got the first official word inside the White House when the Justice Department opened its inquiry… Gonzales said Justice Department lawyers notified him of the investigation around 8 p.m., and he got permission from them to wait until the following morning to direct the staff to preserve any materials related to the case.

“We were advised, `Go ahead and notify the staff early in the morning, that would be OK,'” Gonzales said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “And again, most of the staff had gone home. No one knew about the investigation.”

Gonzales said he immediately notified Card, then told President Bush the next morning before notifying the White House staff.

At the time, the Justice Department was run by John Ashcroft, who eventually recused himself from the case under pressure from Democrats who complained about his ties to Rove…

Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware said he doesn’t doubt Gonzales’ sincerity, but that his decision to notify only Card about the federal investigation “wasn’t the soundest of judgments.”

“The real question now is, ‘Who did the chief of staff speak to?'” Biden asked, speculating as to whether Card might have spoken to Rove or someone else.

Democracy Depends on Holding Bush Accountable – GOP Won’t Do It So They Must Go

“Never have I seen such an unlawful Administration, one with such arrogance toward the rule of law. Their activities are criminal… We have a monolithic government in Washington. It is a government whose policies have failed, and made the world much more dangerous and made us less secure… It is the responsibility of Congress to oversee the executive branch and when this Administration lied and deceived us, Congress should have held hearings…. Therefore, the election of 2006 is one of the most important in our country’s history if we’re going to maintain this Democratic republic. We need a new Congress and we need to carry out a full and thorough investigation of the Administration…. It is up to each of us, every one of us in this hall today to do everything we can, to mobilize all our resources, our friends, our organizations, to to make sure our democracy stands.”

— Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), speaking at a Town Hall event, “Torture and Lies: Who is Accountable?” on Saturday, July 23, 2005, at the Ethical Culture Society in New York, co-sponsored by The Nation and Democrats.com

California Dems Turned the Terminator Into a Girly Man

“[Democrats] have attacked Schwarzenegger’s policies; they have attacked his character, his ethics, his trustworthiness, and it has driven down his poll numbers.”
— GOP adviser

If the national Democrats are scratching their heads over how to take down a once-popular Republican leader, they should drop a dime and get the 4-1-1 from Democrats in California.

The reversal of fortunes for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger began in January when he informed us in his “State of the State” speech that 2005 was going to be the “year of reform.” The speech was a disaster. Das Guber projected an attitude that suggested that, yes, he was delivering bad news but, hey, he was doing it with a smile. Buck up and take yer medicine.

Voters never liked to be lectured to by their elected officials. A real politician would know that. And nobody wants to be lectured to by a movie star.

While many of his wounds ar self-inflicted, Democrat’s in the state deserve credit for the governor’s reduced fortunes:

“What the Democrats have done here undeniably has been very effective,” said [Hoover Institute fellow and conservative political adviser Bill] Whalen. “They have attacked Schwarzenegger’s policies; they have attacked his character, his ethics, his trustworthiness, and it has driven down his poll numbers.”

…But veteran Democratic strategist Garry South said there’s hardly an outpouring of pity for the GOP action-hero-turned-governor with this latest development. “He’s gotten himself into this pickle,” he said. “This was all about testosterone, and we’ll have to see whether his glands outduel his brain on how to get out of this mess.”

Democratic consultant Gale Kaufman also seemed to be enjoying the governor’s predicament. Strategy is limited, she said, when you’re hanging on the side of a cliff.

“They are in free fall here,” she said of the governor’s team. “They don’t have any good choices.”

[…]

CIA Leak: Sen. McCain Says He Doesn’t Know Definition of ‘Negligent’

I just saw George Stephanopoulos interviewing Sen. John McCain about Karl Rove’s involvement in the CIA leak scandal on ABC’s This Week. Stephanoplous read the text of the security clearance agreement signed by Rove when he took a position in the government.

I then happened to click onto AmericaBlog where they had seen interview (three hours earlier, EDT) and posted the transcript:

“I have been advised that any breach of this Agreement may result in the termination of any security clearance I hold; removal from any position of special confidence and trust requiring such clearances; or the termination of my employment…”

Stephanopoulos: Do you believe that this agreement should be abided by?

McCain: I do, but that also implies that someone knowingly revealed…

Stephanopoulos: This covers negligent disclosures

McCain: Again I don’t know what the definition of “negligent” is.

Please contact Sen. McCain and help him with the definition of the word “negligent:”

McCain, John- (R – AZ) Class III
241 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2235
Web Form: mccain.senate.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=Contact.Home