Justice Dept. lists withheld documents

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department released a list of internal documents Thursday focusing on lawmakers' concerns and media questions about the firings of eight federal prosecutors, but the department resisted congressional demands for copies of the memos.

The list of 159 e-mails and memos, spanning nearly three months, at the least demonstrates concern about how the dismissals were being publicly received before they erupted into a firestorm that has resulted in calls for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign.

The small pile of documents, sent to Capitol Hill on Thursday night, also included e-mails about articles published in The Washington Post and The New York Times that quoted unidentified Justice officials justifying the firings. A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said congressional investigators requested those two stories to determine who the unidentified officials were.

The new documents were released on the eve of closed-door congressional testimony by Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty. Documents listed as not being released were all authored by Kyle Sampson, Gonzales' former chief of staff, who resigned March 12 over the handling of the firings.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070427/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/fired_prosecutors

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Justice Dept. Won't Release All Documents Lawmakers Seek
Friday, April 27, 2007; Page A21


After releasing nearly 6,000 pages of documents related to the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, the Justice Department says it is drawing the line.

In a letter sent last night to the Senate and House Judiciary committees, Justice gave a list of 171 documents it is withholding from Congress because they involve "congressional and media inquiries" about the dismissals, seven of which occurred Dec. 7.

According to descriptions on the list, Justice will hold e-mails plotting media strategies, draft letters to Capitol Hill, various memoranda and "discussions" related to conversations between Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and lawmakers.

more:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/26/AR2007042602918.html

[maddezmom]

1. House panel demands full text

House panel demands full text
The House Judiciary Committee has demanded the full text of all documents that had been partially or completely blacked out among nearly 6,000 pages of e-mails, calendar pages and memos released to Congress as it investigates whether the firings were politically motivated. The documents being sought include correspondence with lawmakers and journalists about the firing.

More Justice documents are expected to be sent to Congress on Friday. Additional lists of documents that are being withheld, from other Justice staffers, will be released to Congress "on a rolling basis," Assistant Attorney General Richard Hertling told Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, the two Democratic chairmen of the Senate and House Judiciary committees investigating the firings.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., who sits on the Senate panel, said the withheld documents "may contain very important answers. It's critical that we get them."

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/27/fired.prosecutors.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest

[HuffleClaw]

2. keep digging that hole gonzo!

all this ensures is MORE investigations, more subpoenas and MORE and growing media coverage of their increasingly evident criminality