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Mukasey to Muckraker: Get Press Releases off The Website
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) put the question to Attorney General Michael Mukasey: TPMmuckraker was knocked off the Justice Department's email distribution list and has been told that they can't be put back on; has there been a change in the Justice Department's policy since he became attorney general?
The "short answer," Mukasey replied, is "I'm not aware with how the distribution of press releases is arrived at. I do know that all the press releases should be on our website. So they should be generally available." Translation: we can go fly a kite.
Johnson followed up, asking if Muksaey was the one who'd made the decision. No, he said. He hadn't been aware of the issue until "it was called to my attention in a letter from the chairman." But, of course, he came prepared with his talking point.
Here's video:
A quibble: all emails sent via the Department's Office of Public Affairs are not available on the Department's website. There are a number of documents, such as the attorney general's prepared written testimony for hearings or transcripts of background briefings, which are only provided via email.
Since we were told that "[the Department's Office of Public Affairs] simply [is] not able to put everyone on the list," we haven't been able to get any further explanation, even after Chairman Conyers' letter asking about the issue. If the Department wants to explain on their website, that would be fine too. But a response of some kind would be appreciated.
Update: Well, I guess it was just a matter of time before this rose to the level of a "-gate." And The Politico is first with Muckrackergate.
Josh
Zachary
Congrats to TPM! You are getting to them! That must mean they do have some vulnerability even tho they've made the teflon master (Reagan) seem like an amateur! Thanks for your continued pursuit of the true American Way!
February 7, 2008 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Putting Muckraker back on the Dept of Torture's email press release list would take no significant effort.
That this vile Stalinist (Muksaey) has not done so already is a clear statement that the thuggish business as usual that stunk up Washington DC under Abu Gonzalez will continue until impeachment or Jan 20, 2009. A pox on this country for allowing itself to become so befouled.
February 7, 2008 4:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
I guess they just don't like Josh Marshall and the crew at TPM. I trust you have alternate sources, like someone on the list that will copy you when they recieve a press release from DoJ.
Perhaps it is time to find some more muck on Mukasey. My rake is ready....
February 7, 2008 5:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice work Sen. Schumer. Your judgement continues to depress.
February 7, 2008 5:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Republican secret government needs to be a major campaign issue this Fall.
You TPM guys are doing a great job. Keep it up.
February 7, 2008 5:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not able to put everyone on the list? Are they running low on electrons?
February 7, 2008 5:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
It seems highly unlikely to me that budget cuts caused TPM to be removed from an email list. The beauty of email, and why so many people are inundated with spam, is that it is essentially free to send to as many recipients as is desired.
I, respectfully, think the DOJ is full of it.
Also- on an unrelated note- does Mukasey's body language give anyone else the heeby-jeebies? i think it's the hands.
February 7, 2008 5:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Are they running low on electrons?"
You'd think they'd have plenty left over after all the email that mysteriously went missing.
But yeah, that's such a bullshit excuse.
February 7, 2008 5:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is one of the downsides of a lame-duck administration. They've all long since decided they have no shame, so the response to being called out for a stupid decision is to dig in. This kind of pissy intransigence may be crucial to the level of wingnut welfare that Mukasey and his underlings receive after leaving office.
(And of course the general intransigence comes from a similar source. Even if Congress zeroed out the entire dispensable executive branch in retaliation, they'd be gone by the time it took effect. The real casualty is whatever remained of DoJ's credibility, and even that damage is perfect for republican purposes, because it will let them paint any prosecutons or investigations undertaken by the next administration as political hackery.)
February 7, 2008 8:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Someone should help Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) with his pronunciation of TPM Muckraker. When he says it, it sounds like TPM Muckracker.
February 7, 2008 8:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well now TPMMUCKRAKER has made it into US history, that questioning will be part of the United States National Archive permanently.
I wasn't impressed with the answer, I think that Josh should send further letters of inquiry.
LOL
February 7, 2008 8:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Mukasey to Muckraker: Get Press Releases off The Website"
The title suggests the DoJ AG is not happy with TPM posting DoJ press releases on the TPMM website. If this is true, there's a problem: DOJ press releases are not "private," they are public, news, and can be freely copied with or without attribution.
Please clarify whether the AG has a problem with TPM "reposting" the DOJ Press releases on the TPM website. This appears to be akin to censorship on dubious grounds: Targeting the message, messenger, and audience.
Any thought to getting the DOJ Press releases through other methods, or would that be seen as capitluation?
February 7, 2008 8:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
"And it does hamper our ability to inform you about what is happening at DOJ as Attorney General Mukasey takes over from the disgraced tenure of his predecessor."
Mukasey is continuing the same policies as his former disgraced predecessor.That would be the reason his body language gives "Iaou" the heeby jeebies.To me it`s the body language of evasion.
February 7, 2008 9:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
testing, I think that what Mukasey was saying is that Josh can get the press releases off of the DoJ website, not demanding that Josh remove the press releases from this website.
February 7, 2008 11:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're a key party to a -gate! You must be so proud!
Awesome.
February 7, 2008 11:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're a key party to a -gate! You must be so proud!
Awesome. Who's got the cigars?
February 8, 2008 12:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
Isn't it Muckracker with a long "a" as in faker, not a short "a" as in cracker?
February 8, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Meet our new Attorney General, Michael Mugreasy:
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/12533
February 8, 2008 1:17 PM | Reply | Permalink