Comments (57)

Ian wrote on March 16, 2007 5:05 PM:

Um...they might want to slow-wall, but all the WH is going to do is drag this scandal out and give it even more legs into next week. Obvious that they've lost control of their message, and I'm not sure they're going to be able to stuff the genie back in the bottle.

pj wrote on March 16, 2007 5:12 PM:

WH is done "cooperating". Executive privilege is the last resort of scoundrels...or something to that effect.

CB wrote on March 16, 2007 5:14 PM:

I'm surprised to read this. I thought that Friday afternoon was the Bush Administration's favorite time of the week to release bad news. Is there a better time to avoid the news cycle? Sunday at 2:30 AM perhaps?

Jack wrote on March 16, 2007 5:19 PM:

We don't need no stinkin' documents. IMPEACH HIM NOW!

Arkansan wrote on March 16, 2007 5:24 PM:

What's wrong with the Democrats? Why didn’t they expect this an issue the subpoenas this week. The longer they wait the more time for files to be scrubbed etc. Worse, there was no reason whatsoever to trust the WH to act in good faith in the first place, why pretend otherwise?

Leta wrote on March 16, 2007 5:25 PM:

Is Karl our of the office? Or is there a mad dash for a "document dump" at the WH? Gives them the weekend to some cleanup.

pj wrote on March 16, 2007 5:25 PM:

But it is bad news for the WH which is precisely why they released it late Friday. WH is through being "responsive". Over the weekend you will start hearing more and more about executive privilege. Rove and Miers especially will be covered by that.

Geoff wrote on March 16, 2007 5:27 PM:

One week...that is about how long it is going to take to get their multiple fabrications straightened out and their overall story in order. Lots of players, so many emails, so little time.... awwwwww

matt wrote on March 16, 2007 5:33 PM:

They have something to hide, and they must have just found out that the documents show what it is.

SkippyFlipjack wrote on March 16, 2007 5:33 PM:

Time for some Rose Garden dumpster-diving!

joel wrote on March 16, 2007 5:34 PM:

Is the WH Counsel's Office working in good faith, or are they working in "good faith"?

Given this week's e-mail revelations, I'd certainly ask for clarification on that.

Carl Nyberg wrote on March 16, 2007 5:36 PM:

What prevents the Bush administration from using the time to obstruct justice, e.g. destroy documents and coordinate stories?

henry wrote on March 16, 2007 5:38 PM:

in order for rove to survive, which of course is the paramount value at this white house, gonzales will resign. expect the news to break on a friday night, which would make it stale by the time everyone comes back on monday from their weekend distractions and begins watching their usual television shows and reading their usual news sources. to washington players and political aficianados, this obviously won't matter. they'll watch the sunday morning talk shows, unlike 98 percent of americans. to millions of less interested voters across the nation, the gonzales capitulation will escape their radar.

and yet, the bush media manipulation can only delay the inevitable. only weeks after being confronted for the first time with congressional oversight and subpoena power, these incompetents at the white house are doomed. their long-term survival strategy, which no doubt is already being contemplated there with dread, is to count on the supreme court to bail bush out when constitutional challenges regarding executive privilege, production of documents and testimony, etc., land on the docket.

it will be fascinating to see whether the court that enabled bush's fraudulent victory in 2000 will continue to support an administration so allergic to the truth that it has lied its way into and out of so many profoundly important messes.

telling the truth never helped the bush administration accomplish ANYTHING, so why should they try to adopt that tactic at this late date? they just wouldn't know how to do it.

JC wrote on March 16, 2007 5:39 PM:

We will see one more round of stalling, and probably the WH won't even deign to claim "executive privilege". They just won't respond.

And then, when compelled to respond, they will continue to not respond. What happens if the administration simply says "we refuse to participate in political partisan witchhunts which damage our ability to move forward as a nation". And simply ignores entreaties from congresspeople?

pj wrote on March 16, 2007 5:42 PM:

This is just about the time when a major..and I do mean MAJOR...distraction is needed to get the USA firings off the front page. Something as big as a tsunami or an A-List celebrity getting kidnapped and held for ransom. I wonder what it's going to be.

JC wrote on March 16, 2007 5:43 PM:

The thing is, with both the Plame thing today,the US Atty thing, both of these, are, by any lights, impeachable offenses.

Really, this is beyond the pale. So the administration continues to stonewall. At some point, I am assuming that articles of impeachment will be brought up, against Cheney and Bush, with a whole list of particulars, documenting politicalization, lies, etc.

But the exercise will end up, as Clinton's did, failing in the Senate.

o wrote on March 16, 2007 5:44 PM:

"The Counsel's office has assured me that they will continue to work in good faith..."
Good faith, good faith... why does that ring a bell?

Dennis wrote on March 16, 2007 5:45 PM:

The Bush administration has spent more time covering its backside than runing the country.

The only thing that will turn up next week is how they're going to continue that - all they need and mean with this delay is how to do it; not that it will work any better than the other wiping their buns they've tried to do.

These guys are criminals in the truest sense of the word - our criminals and, world criminals. Nor I'm not to sure Congress isn't far behind.

You don't have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.

SLS wrote on March 16, 2007 5:47 PM:

It could just be that the WH is just reading the documents and working on their explanation before everyone else reads the documents. Could've saved a lot of face if they'd done that earlier this week. The press was several steps ahead of Snow all week, just by reading the e-mails.

Robin Boerner wrote on March 16, 2007 5:50 PM:

"The White House is playing a dangerous game of chicken"

Ever see a chicken run over by a Mack Truck? I have and it ain't pretty.

And Conyers and Sanchez are driving it right for Bush. His guys Rove and Gonzales are going to see that he is impeached. Right to the very end.

apeman wrote on March 16, 2007 5:50 PM:

I just saw two shredder trucks heading down Pa. Ave.

Pinson wrote on March 16, 2007 5:51 PM:

The only conclusion one can draw is they've found all kinds of unexplainable stuff and they need the weekend to decide what to do. No matter. The key thing is to get Rove, Miers and the rest under oath. Karl will have to plead the Fifth, and that will be the beginning of the end.

JB wrote on March 16, 2007 5:56 PM:

i agree with those saying that a gonzalez dump is imminent. it's the only thing that can stop (or at least hobble) the story to the extent the WH needs right now. my cynical guess is that most Americans will feel pacified by a gonzalez resignation and follow-up details and/or pursuit of the issue will bore them. rove must be hoarding all the kevlar that troops in Iraq never seem to have enough of; he is eternally bullet-proof.

chimpeach wrote on March 16, 2007 5:57 PM:

Arkansan: "What's wrong with the Democrats? Why didn’t they expect this an issue the subpoenas this week."

I guess you missed it. Here's the deal. Miers and Rove were added to the list late in the week. Senate rules allowed a member of the minority party to block a vote on their subpoenas for a week, which they did. Fielding is saying that they should let Miers and Rove appear of their own accord without threat of subpoena. Leahy and Schumer have said if they don't agree to appear there will be subpoenas. The vote was delayed by one week. If Rove and Miers aren't ready to testify before next Friday, they'll damn sure get subpoenaed. Don't blame the Dems for following Senate rules.

Dennis wrote on March 16, 2007 6:06 PM:

Fred Fielding is to "negotiate". Negotiate what?

This, along with the Plame affair, has the potential to expose the lies of the Bush administration leading into the attack on Iraq, and now the Bush administration wants to "negotiate".

But not trusting either party, what's in it for the democrats to "negotiate"?

You don't have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.

r€nato wrote on March 16, 2007 6:07 PM:

maybe the WH needs extra time to finish with the shredders.

mbbsdphil wrote on March 16, 2007 6:07 PM:

Mr. Lampson has alredy naively shown us what this administration considers to be a "good faith" attempt to comply with requests from Congress.

These committees need their best negotiators up front, with subpoenas behind. Only inevitable disclosure will cut loose the records Congress has asked for.

The administration may consider this a game of Dare or Chicken. Congress should let them know the better anaology is that they are playing Russian Roulette with themselves by withholding documents and cooperation from Congress.

ebw wrote on March 16, 2007 6:15 PM:

When will the American people wake-up to the fact that the neo-con Bush/Cheney/Rice/Rove/Gonzales gang treat us like slaves?

When will the American people wake-up to the fact that these arrogant neo-con thugs who have hijacked the Executive Branch have absolutely no respect for our US Constitution & Bill of Rights?

When will the American people wake-up to the fact that Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rove & Gonzales are nothing more than criminal-types who lack the collective intellect, integrity & wisdom to hold the sacred offices which they continue to soil & sully by their very sordid & squalid crimes?

*** Until the American people wake-up, we are lost... Of course, Bush will protect his Crime Family consiglieres Rove & Gonzales-- and, this entire regime should be impeached & put on trial for treason.

mbbsdphil wrote on March 16, 2007 6:41 PM:

David Brooks is such a Tool. On the News Hour, he is spouting administration talking points about Joe Wilson's error-ridden report, denying Valerie Plame was covert, contending the whole matter is ancient history. Asking for his comments, he started by saying that he felt it was like being asked to "decipher the Dead Sea Scrolls".

Mr. Brooks's take on the USA firings is just as smarmy. Karl is the Great White Whale everyone in DC tries to get, and tries to shoehorn into every controversy.

Nothing to see here. Move along. The NYT is not well served by continuing to employ him.

Mcboo wrote on March 16, 2007 6:58 PM:

Well of course they want to wait. They want to see if this story can survive the weekend news cycle. Maybe something else will come out to overshadow this... well they can hope I guess, but that's small comfort for us now is it?

Robbie wrote on March 16, 2007 7:44 PM:

Chavez was right on the money when he called Bush a "political cadaver". The best Bush can hope for is a sharp scalpel. I hope he gets a blunt, bent & rusty axe!

Richard L. Adlof wrote on March 16, 2007 8:33 PM:

Actually . . . Violation of the Presidential Records Act (felony) and the fact that everyone of these bastards are vain beyond all belief and sure that their shit don't stink and they want documentation for their state sponsored history books/biographies showing how the Repbublican way triumphing over the lowly 'Democrat' majority might keep the shreading party at bay.

foggylady wrote on March 16, 2007 8:45 PM:

Let's not lose the BIG picture here....
The Admin's is keeping its eye on the primary
goal : to buy enough time for the oil contracts to be signed by the puppet Iraq government .
And to invade Iran. It is clear that governing America is only a afterthought, that the primary goal is the oil.
Notice that Halliburton has already moved into place.
If Keith Olbermann's Terror Countdown is correct, we can expect another terrorist threat or something along those lines as a distraction...maybe anthrax in the Senate?...
**absent a New Pearl Harbor***

SAE wrote on March 16, 2007 8:48 PM:

Hi--

I haven't seen you highlight a couple of points made in the WSJ's front page story on Gonzalez this past week titled "Attacks on Gonzales Bare Weak Power Base"; in the middle of that article two points are made:

-- The effect of appointing US Attorney's that are not confirmed by the Senate is that all hires of assistant US attorney's must be centrally approved by the Justice department rather than at the US attorney level giving Justice far more control over who is staffed in these offices. The article also quotes unnamed administration officials as saying they were not aware of this fact; may be nothing but deserves highlighting. Do the assistant US attorney’s that are justice department approved tend to stay on into a new administration? I recall a similar article a while back about the Justice Department ignoring tradition for hiring loyal conservatives into career positions. Another way to leave a lasting stamp on Justice.

-- In the article Gonzalez says the US Attorney's were not fired for "improper" reasons and that he "made" the decisions. Here Gonzalez admits that there are "improper" reasons to fire a US Attorney w

Anonymous wrote on March 16, 2007 8:52 PM:

I think the House and Senate committees bungled this one and should have subpoenaed or demanded testimony and documents sooner.

You can always delay claiming 'good faith' attempts and on a Friday that gives them the whole weekend, and possibly Monday or so, where they have 24 hours a day to coordinate and get their lies, ahem I mean "memories" in order.

The pattern of the scandal has been the WH repeatedly being caught off balance and lying to cover their asses and contradicting themselves and documentary evidence. They're going to be a lot better at coordinating lies and hiding evidence with a little time.

Testimony on the facts should be demanded with all expediency before the coverup gets coordinated.

pj wrote on March 16, 2007 8:52 PM:

Does anyone remember what happened when the Dems demanded that Cheney reveal the names of the oil barons who wrote the "energy policy" with him? The SCOTUS ruled that his imperial highness was not to be bothered by the riff-raff. Same-o-same-o for Bushco once he invokes executive privilege. No shredders necessary.

kozmik wrote on March 16, 2007 9:00 PM:

"I'm surprised to read this. I thought that Friday afternoon was the Bush Administration's favorite time of the week to release bad news. "

Well it depends on the scale of the story. If the scandal is so big it's all people are talking about, pretty much any time is bad, though Fridays might still be marginally better. I suspect a dump today would have given investigators all weekend to sift through them, while weekend TV builds anticipation.

This is such a big and fast breaking scandal they've been trying to get out ahead of it but started tripping over their own lies.
They've been caught in self contradiction and by documentary evidence so many times, now they're trying to slow it down.

kozmik wrote on March 16, 2007 9:10 PM:

" Fielding is saying that they should let Miers and Rove appear of their own accord without threat of subpoena. Leahy and Schumer have said if they don't agree to appear there will be subpoenas. The vote was delayed by one week. ... Don't blame the Dems for following Senate rules. "

When that sort of slow-pedaling occurs, even by the rules, there should be political consequences.

Periphery pols should be on talk shows dropping the names of those aiding the admin in stalling, and summarizing the scandal. That's the only way our sorry excuse for media will report stories: if the pols go on TV to do it themselves.

kis wrote on March 16, 2007 9:19 PM:

If they were to dump Gonzales, might they wait until Monday (with the document dump) so as to try making that the dominant story line for next week?

If they dumped him today, the chattering classes would spend all weekend trying to follow it upstream to Rove, Bush, etc. They need to make as big a splash as possible with Gonzales as the diversion.

Other theory is that whatever they found in the documents is pretty bad, and they need the weekend to agree on a story line so that they dont trip over themselves again.

res wrote on March 16, 2007 9:34 PM:

A Theory:

Gonzales is the linchpin to the Legal Firewall that the WH constructed back in 2000. Over the past 6 years, too many illegalities have been perpetrated and/or shielded by the un-law firm of Gonzales, Miers, Ashcroft, Kelley & Rove (i know, Rove's not an atty) with AG at the helm. That is why Bush can't get rid of him. That's right - they can't get rid of him. There would be way too much legal exposure if they did. If pushed, expect Executive privilege to be invoked.

It's a house of cards, and so in the meantime they will have to do something massive to publicly create a sense of "throwing out the trash", steal back the headlines, and try to portray the WH as being "back on track". Look for a major player that is not part of the Legal Firewall to be cast out soon. Cheney ? Either that, or a military strike against Iran will be initiated to re-focus everyone.

We live in dangerous times.

enough wrote on March 16, 2007 9:36 PM:

If they have nothing to hide, why are they hiding everything? Oh what a tangled web they weave when first they practice to deceive. I’d call this, excuse the expression, getting their dicks caught in the cogs. Maybe the cod piece was a good idea after all. Gonzales and Rove and Miers are the heart of the Bush cabal. They are his loyalists. I'd be very surprised if any of them come forward voluntarily or if Gonzales is now fired.

SeeDee wrote on March 16, 2007 11:07 PM:

Your observation, res, "we live in dangerous times"..

Indeed, we do...and I agree with your assessment of an 'incident' involving 'defensive actions' by U.S. forces against Iranian 'evil-doers' as a 'possibility' turning into a 'probability' at the same rate that the investigation into the USA purge threatens the Bush cabal.

Convenient, isn't it, that our Democratic dimwit congresspeople only last week gave the C-I-C (the S/E Asia combat-shirking C-I-C) carte blanc to attack Iran.

What were they thinking? Or, more precisely, were they thinking of America or AIPAC campaign money?

Mrs Panstreppon wrote on March 16, 2007 11:50 PM:

Speaking of documents, Kyle Sampson might want clear up that IRS tax lien on his DC property. Otherwise, people like me will have a lot of fun and laugh about AG Gonzales's chief of staff not paying his taxes. Which is, or at least used to be, illegal.

Who knows? Maybe loyal Bushies don't have to bother paying taxes anymore.

mbbsdphil wrote on March 17, 2007 12:07 AM:

Must Read: Jeremy Scahill's, "Blackwater: Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army".

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070402/scahill

Summary of Mr. Bush and Mr. Rumsfeld's military privatization campaign and the growth of Erik Prince's Blackwater, and what it means for America's insecurity at home and abroad.

According to Scahill, Blackwater operates the largest private army in the world. Twenty plus thousand, ex-Recon, Special Forces, SEAL, SAS (ie, top talent, capable of Any Mission). Blackwater has a 7,000 acre base in NC, other bases in IL and CA, and permits to operate in every US coastal state. It has over a billion in admitted revenue, plus Black Contracts.

Internationally, they can violate international law with impunity. Domestically, they can be used to skirt posse comitatus restrictions on the use of the Army for police duties. They provided "security" services post-Katrina, not just in Lousiana, but throughout the Gulf. For what? Why? Because National Guardsmen costing less than a tenth their price ($950/day) were all away in Iraq?

The consequences of the growth and use of Blackwater (and its competitors) could be devastating. They are not legally accountable except to those they contract with. And who would take a billionaire owner of a private, black ops army into open court? We ignore them at our peril.

Zach Edwards wrote on March 17, 2007 12:26 AM:

The firings of US attorney Carol C. Lam and Daniel Bogden were connected through one case that just so happened to be the first time the Patriot Act was used in a non-terrorism related case. The investigation, and the subsequently comprehensive search for financial records ended up getting Sheldon Adelson, the 6th richest man in the world and fervent Bush supporter, involved by highlighting $190,000 of contributions he gave to the now convicted ex-County Commissioner and Lobbyist Lance Malone. It is a highly complicated case that demonstrates that Mark Corallo, who has worked as spokesman for both Karl Rove and Attorney General Gonzales, and also at the Republican National Committee was most likely the go-between to help spur these firings on behalf of Sheldon Adelson.

Visit my blog for the story and for future updates: http://misterapologist.blogspot.com/2007/03/bogden-lam-gonzales-rove-corallo.html

jimbo92107 wrote on March 17, 2007 1:09 AM:

A political prairie fire has ignited, and it is beginning to burn its way across the land.

How delightful!

kentuck wrote on March 17, 2007 8:32 AM:

I think many of the remarks above are right on the mark. The White House has become very concerned about what might come out with these emails and documents. They need to double-check their stories. That's why they decided against the Friday "dump". They need to take a second look.

Are documents being destroyed? Perhaps, but that carries a big price if found out. They appear to be running scared? Because they don't have control of the stories that are being released. They are buying time, hoping to regain control of the message. At this time, they look like chicken hawks running around with their heads cut off...

AlanDownunder wrote on March 17, 2007 10:00 AM:

Thanks, Fielding. From now on, no need to request before subpoenaing.

1Watt wrote on March 17, 2007 10:02 AM:

Everything is political with this crop of GOPer's, it's time for a RICO investigation of the RNC.

drits'n'dravy wrote on March 17, 2007 5:02 PM:

Could someone explain what the ramifications are of WH officials, such as Rove, defying a subpoena? Would he be held in contempt of congress? Is there any legal sanction that would apply? An article in today's NY Times seems to suggest that Rove and co. have no intention of giving public testimony, esp. when they can't pick and choose the topics that will be covered. How do Leahy and Schumer deal with this?
And what possible incentive would the dems have to cave into Rove's demands by allowing him to be interviewed in private or to dictate the terms of the testimony?

Emocrat wrote on March 18, 2007 6:15 PM:

Ooh. What a surprise! WH behaves badly, congress is "disappointed." Maybe some day they'll actually get tired of being disappointed and actually DO something!

Looks like it's time to write another LETTER of complaint to someone who doesn't give a toss! That'll show 'em!

Michael wrote on March 19, 2007 7:08 PM:

Perhaps it's time to purge Congress?

Become a Purger; start your own Purge Team.

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