Murray Waas writes for National Review:
The Bush administration has withheld a series of e-mails from Congress showing that senior White House and Justice Department officials worked together to conceal the role of Karl Rove in installing Timothy Griffin, a protégé of Rove’s, as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Several of the e-mails that the Bush administration is withholding from Congress, as well as papers from the White House counsel’s office describing other withheld documents, were made available to National Journal by a senior executive branch official, who said that the administration has inappropriately kept many of them from Congress.
The senior official said that Gonzales, in preparing for testimony before Congress, has personally reviewed the withheld records and has a responsibility to make public any information he has about efforts by his former chief of staff, other department aides, and White House officials to conceal Rove’s role.
The anonymous official said: “If [Gonzales] didn’t know everything that was going on when it went down, that is one thing. But he knows and understands chapter and verse. If there was an effort within Justice and the White House to mislead Congress, it is his duty to disclose that to Congress. As the country’s chief law enforcement official, he has a higher duty to disclose than to protect himself or the administration.”
The secrecy is unbelievable, firstly and, secondly, the White House isn’t even good at keeping its secrets, you, secret. This has the potential to hurt the image of Gonzales, of Karl Rove, and of the White House in general, quite tremendously. It will increase calls for thorough investigations, it will embolden Democrats in Congress, it will force Republicans to take a tougher stance against the White House; all in all, extremely bad news for Bush (Rove, and Gonzales).
What I am interested in is whether someone will actually be held responsible and accountable. Some leading officials seem to have stepped out of line, they have acted in a not so honorable manner… they should, yes, go.
Incompetence and secrecy rule. Never a good combination.
The effort of the White House, if the article at National Journal is accurate, to obstruct the investigation of Congress is unpardonable.
How anyone can actually defend the conduct of Gonzales, Rove et al in this affair is beyond me.
Where’s the personal, and professional, responsibility?
More at The Washington Monthly, Think Progress, Balloon Juice and Obsidian Wings.
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