MCAULIFFE FILES FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST

[meisje]

DNC Press Release MCAULIFFE FILES FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST; Requests All Documents Shared Between the Department of Justice and White House Regarding Investigation of Sandy Berger
Wed Jul 21 2004 13:17:22 ET

Washington, D.C. -In response to the questionable timing of the public release of information regarding the investigation of former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, Democratic National Committee Chair Terry McAuliffe officially filed a Freedom of Information Act request today for the release of correspondence between the Department of Justice and the White House regarding this investigation.

http://drudgereport.com/flash8.htm

[WI_DEM]

1. I hope that is true

It has obviously been politically motivated.

[Tellurian]

17. Maybe, I hope, their prescription for "STUPID PILLs" ran out..

By and large the democrats make the republikcans look like geniuses!

[LittleApple81]

2. I hope this is true. I am not believing it until I see it somewher else.nt

[aden_nak]

3. Wow, what's up with the Democrats growing actual spines lately?

[R Hickey]

5. No kidding.

"Turnabout is fairplay." Ha!

[madrchsod]

6. they smell blood in the water

and they are attacking every thing that moves...

[Wickerman]

4. How long do you think it will take?

I filed for a 45 year old transcript of a very onscure interview once and it took me 6 months to receive it. I'm only guessing, but I imagine that Terry has a little more pull than me - think he can get it before the election or will they figure out a way to delay?

[Tuttle]

8. I think the point is getting a headline

If he can get the Daily Show to find a humor angle on this, then people other than those reading the Guardian will har about it and be able (hopefully) to connect the dots.

...now, watch this drive,
Tut-tut

[trogdor]

9. I imagine they'll get the stuff to him quickly...

...right. :eyes:

Of course, every day they delay is a day he gets to go in front of people talking about how pissing-in-their-pants scared the Bushies are to let this information out of their exclusive control for as much as a fraction of a second. Dare we hope he has stones that hard?

[Wickerman]

10. You and Tuttle have good points

this is a win for us - provided its true and provided he uses it. :hi:

[pa28]

7. McCauliffe is improving. He "gets" his job now. n/t

[geek tragedy]

11. I actually think this is a *bad* idea--it's a distraction from the other

aWol scandals and keeps this story, which has done only very limited damage to Kerry so far, on the front burner.

[doctorbombeigh]

13. Eh. Maybe. I think it's wise to get out there now and raise...

some questions re the timing. It's obvious, but that never means much in the US, unless someone makes a big deal out of it - publicly and with a certain amount of venom.

The Dems are hungry and (as someone else smartly noted) they smell blood in the water. Not just around this Berger issue, but with respect to the election. They can take these clowns in November. If this mothercheneying White House is so worked up about "security leaks" then Terry might be well served in mentioning the Plame scandal. Repeatedly - as our friend Al Franken says, and "in a loud and accusatory tone."

Calling all sharks... Please report to the DNC immediately.

Once they've made the point this week - then I agree that it's time to back off of it and let Kerry shine at the convention.

[Frances]

18. Dems have been pushed around long enough

The story is out there--even my husband, a Bush basher, was buying into the idea that Berger has done something seriously wrong. He thought the story hurt Kerry.

The new story should be that the Dems are not wimps (or girlie men as my governor would say)! The new story should be that Bushco is not going to get away with something that is a distraction from his responsibility for 9/11.

People need to be reminded how Bushco manipulates everything he touches: WMD intelligence, medicare prescription drug costs, economic statistics, voting counts. Bushco cannot be trusted in any area of government, anywhere, anytime!

[DeepModem Mom]

24. My husband bought, too, and he's a Dem, also --

He said if not true, the Dems should fight it. Looks like they are!

[lancdem]

25. I think making the timing a big issue is necessary

I have no problem with it.

[aden_nak]

27. He is trying to color how people will remember this story.

Will they remember that "Democrat Sandy Berger" removed classified documents, or will they remember that "Republican George Bush" used it as a political tool.

[SayitAintSo]

12. Didn't the Bushbots gut the FOI rules making it harder ?

Thought I read about this - What I remember is that the requester NOW has to do back flips proving their NEED for the material. I seem to remember that the Bamford Book - Body of Evidence had something to do with this as Bamford FOI'ed to get the Project Northwoods data that demonstrated the inclination of the military advisor's to Kennedy to use terrorism on US citizens to inspire / support the case for going to war. Anybody know anything different ?

Hope this can be put to bed ... I heard Rush orgasming over this briefly at lunch - thought my head would explode.

[Keirsey]

14. It was Ashcroft

"When you carefully consider FOIA requests and decide to withhold records, in whole or in part, you can be assured that the Department of Justice will defend your decisions unless they lack a sound legal basis or present an unwarranted risk of adverse impact on the ability of other agencies to protect other important records."
- John Ashcroft

Passed in 1974 in the wake of the Watergate scandal, the Freedom of Information Act has been hailed as one of our greatest democratic reforms. It allows ordinary citizens to hold the government accountable by requesting and scrutinizing public documents and records. Without it, journalists, newspapers, historians and watchdog groups would never be able to keep the government honest. It was our post-Watergate reward, the act that allows us to know what our elected officials do, rather than what they say. It is our national sunshine law, legislation that forces agencies to disclose their public records and documents.

Yet without fanfare, the attorney general simply quashed the FOIA. The Department of Justice did not respond to numerous calls from The Chronicle to comment on the memo.

So, rather than asking federal officials to pay special attention when the public's right to know might collide with the government's need to safeguard our security, Ashcroft instead asked them to consider whether "institutional, commercial and personal privacy interests could be implicated by disclosure of the information." Even more disturbing, he wrote:
"When you carefully consider FOIA requests and decide to withhold records, in whole or in part, you can be assured that the Department of Justice will defend your decisions unless they lack a sound legal basis or present an unwarranted risk of adverse impact on the ability of other agencies to protect other important records."

http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0108-04.htm

[The Stranger]

15. Soldier on, Mr. McAuliffe

The aggressive response and counterattack is the only way. I have been impressed more than anything by the Kerry Campaign's ("Kerry Administration" sure has a nice ring to it) ability to stay one step ahead of the Bush Campaign, on many, many issues. Find out about the leak. Be ready to address their campaign issues before they are even issued. This will be what brings victory in November.

[wicket]

16. Go Terry Go!

:kick:

[Mr.Green93]

19. Investigate the Leak!

[PopSixSquish]

20. Well Son of a Gun

You go Terry!

[xxqqqzme]

21. copy 'n paste to all

rethugs 'n fux viewers on your email list - no comment; no introduction just FYI - we can counter the distortions w/ real information

"...former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, who in October 2003 acknowledged inadvertently losing two documents from the National Archives. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist claimed Berger was trying to deceive the 9/11 Commission. They failed to mention the Commission refuted that charge, and that even the Bush Justice Department admits the incident is so innocuous, that CBS News reports "law enforcement sources say they don't expect any criminal charges will be filed."

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=8473

[tom_paine]

22. Good for you, Terry! Fight, damn you!

[peterh]

23. Good luck McAuliffe….

I can almost envision king george responding on the 30th day with a “go fuck yourself” reply, but feel free to resubmit….

I’m in a rather cynical mood today….


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/11/18/MNGU534K6O1.DTL

U.S. offices take years to provide requested data

The FOIA is the main federal law requiring public access to executive branch records and says agencies must respond to requests within 20 working days, and allows them an extension of 10 days for "unusual circumstances."

[Lex]

26. My bet is that he filed because he knows something is there.

He's pretty darn sure something is there or he wouldn't have bothered.

He knew it would grab headlines but he was tipped there is something worth seeing there.

There is a strict time limit with FOIA in how long they have to respond.

[lancdem]

28. I think it's pretty obvious someone in Ashcroft's circle

shared info with the WH.

[Viking12]

32. McClellan is a liar

This was on the AP today (June 21)

"President Bush's spokesman, Scott McClellan, disclosed Wednesday that the Justice Department notified the office of White House legal counsel Alberto Gonzalez about the probe before news of it leaked to the media Monday.


"My understanding is that this investigation has been going on for several months and that some officials in our counsel's office were contacted as part of the investigation," McClellan told reporters. "The counsel's office is the one that is coordinating with the Sept. 11 commission the production of documents and since this relates to some documents, the counsel's office was contacted as part of that investigation." "


This was on the AP wires yesterday (June 20) ...

"Scott McClellan, Bush's spokesperson, said no one there was aware of the Berger affair until they read it in some newspapers yesterday. "

[JDPriestly]

36. No doubt, an inadvertent misrepresentation

[Dover]

29. Below is a copy of McAuliffe's official letter of request.

Below is a copy of McAuliffe's official letter of request.

Melanie Ann Pustay, Deputy Director
Office of Information and Policy
Department of Justice
Suite 570, Flag Building
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001

July 21, 2004

Dear Ms. Pustay:

This letter constitutes a request under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), 5 U.S.C. §552, and is submitted on behalf of the Democratic National Committee.

According to recent reporting, an investigation into former National Security Adviser Samuel Berger has been going on for at least nine months, since October 2003. Yet, the criminal investigation only came to light three days prior to the release of a report expected to be critical of the Bush administration's lack of focus on the events leading up to the 9-11 attacks. As conservative scholar Norm Ornstein stated, "you can't look at the timing of this with anything but an enormous amount of skepticism."

In light of the seriousness of the possibility that the Bush administration and the Department of Justice have politicized an ongoing investigation, it is imperative that this Freedom of Information request is responded to in an expedited manner.

Under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552 and the regulations of the Department of Justice, 28 C.F.R. §16.3, I am requesting copies of the following:

Any and all communications relating or referring to the investigation of Samuel ("Sandy") Berger, between, correspondence (including electronic mail) between, memoranda between, phone records of communications between, meeting notes and/or minutes of meetings between, on the one hand, any official or employee of the US Department of Justice AND, on the other hand, (i) the Executive Office of the President or any unit or office thereof (including but not limited to the Office of the Vice President); (ii) any official, employee, or representative of the Republican National Committee; OR (iii) any official, employee or representative of the Bush-Cheney 2004 presidential campaign.

This request covers all documents created during the period from and including October 1, 2003 through and including July 20, 2004.

For your purposes in filling this request, please consider me under the category of "all other organizations," as defined by the Freedom of Information Act. If there are any fees for copying or searching for the records I have requested, please inform me of the cost prior to searching or copying, and only if the total exceeds $100.

If all or any part of this request is denied, please cite the specific exemption which you believe justifies your refusal to release the information and inform me of your agency's administrative appeal procedures available to me under the law.

Please provide all information on a rolling basis if possible. I appreciate your handling of this request as quickly as possible and I look forward to hearing from you within 20 working days, as the law stipulates.

If you have any questions or need further information concerning the above request, please contact me at the address below or at 202-863-8121.

Thank you for your attention to this request.

Sincerely,

Terence R. McAuliffe, Chairman
430 South Capitol Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003

[lancdem]

30. Excellent letter

It's clear the Dems are upping the ante.

[Shrek]

31. Aren't law enforcement records exempt from FOIA requests?

I'm not a lawyer but I seem to recall reading that somewhere. Any attorneys out there who might know for sure?

[lovuian]

33. Ya the FBI had this information long ago

Why the timing now???

[Chovexani]

34. Terry Mac does something useful for once?!

It's about frelling time that spineless asshat earned his paycheck.

[struggle4progress]

35. White House Was Aware of Berger Probe, Aide Says (Update1)

July 21 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's legal advisers knew about the investigation of former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger's handling of classified documents before the probe became public this week, a White House spokesman said.
<snip>
``The criminal investigation only came to light three days prior to the release of a report expected to be critical of the Bush administration's lack of focus on the events leading up to the 9/11 attacks,'' McAuliffe wrote in a Freedom of Information Act request for documents shared between the Justice Department and the White House.
<snip>
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aL9KDSwIqHTM&refer=us