This evening, as you probably know by now, the Justice Department turned over 3,000 pages of documents to Congress. And hard working staffers are working the scanners to pump out pdfs at an impressive rate. You can see the result here.
We’ll get started early in the morning on those documents (and in the meantime, please let us know what you find).
Also, just for contrast, here are two statements out about the release tongiht. One from the Justice Department:
“Taking a virtually unprecedented step, the Justice Department released 3,000 pages of documents today on the dismissal of the eight U.S. Attorneys and has offered to make Department officials available voluntarily for “on the record” interviews and hearings. The Attorney General wants the Congress and the American people to understand both the reasons for the Department’s decisions and its efforts to inform Congress about this matter. The Department did not remove the U.S. Attorneys for improper reasons, such as to prevent or retaliate for a particular prosecution in a public corruption matter. Because the American public must have confidence that such considerations did not factor into the decisions here, the Justice Department is being transparent and forthcoming with the Congress.”
And from House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI), who’s marvelling at the DoJ’s ability to withhold some of the most important information while drowning Congress in documents:
“While I appreciate the Department’s willingness to make these voluminous documents regarding the U.S. Attorney firings available to us for review, I am disappointed that they are denying other important information to Congress without any real authority to do so. This investigation has uncovered serious charges of misleading congress, obstructing justice, and abuse of power. I hope we can resolve the outstanding issues over redactions, but if necessary, we are prepared to press ahead to get to the bottom of this growing scandal, using subpoenas if necessary.”