Missing White House Emails Match Plame Time Frames ... 12-hour gap and the four days it took the Justice Department to notify Gonzales about probe

Missing White House Emails Match Plame Time Frames | By Jason Leopold | t r u t h o u t | Report | Tuesday 22 January 2008

At 8 PM on September 29, 2003, former White House counsel Alberto Gonzales received a phone call from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Gonzales received formal notification that evening that the DOJ had launched a criminal investigation into the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson.
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The 12-hour gap and the four days it took the Justice Department to notify Gonzales about the probe was seen as a departure from standard procedure, according to a letter sent to President Bush by Sens. Tom Daschle, Chuck Schumer, Carl Levin and Joseph Biden in October 2003.

"Every former prosecutor with whom we have spoken has said that the first step in such an investigation would be to ensure all potentially relevant evidence is preserved, yet the Justice Department waited four days before making a formal request for documents," the letter says. "When the Justice Department finally asked the White House to order employees to preserve documents, White House counsel Alberto Gonzales asked for permission to delay transmitting the order to preserve evidence until morning. The request for a delay was granted. Again, every former prosecutor with whom we have spoken has said that such a delay is a significant departure from standard practice." The implication was the White House might have destroyed evidence before receiving official notification to turn over documents.
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The dates where emails are missing for entire days in 2003 coincide with the former White House Press Secretary's public exoneration of Rove and Libby for their alleged roles in leaking Plame's identity, an interview Cheney gave to Tim Russert, host of "Meet the Press," where Cheney vehemently denied knowing Joe Wilson or any aspect of the leak of his wife's CIA status, despite the fact court filings show Cheney discussed the Wilsons with his staff numerous times in the preceding months. Moreover, the emails went missing a week or so before the FBI first questioned Rove, Libby and other White House officials about the leak. ...