Once it was revealed that White House staffers (i.e. Karl Rove) were violating the Presidential Records Act by using RNC email accounts, Congressional Democrats like Henry Waxman have been persistently demanding that all these communications be preserved and handed over to Congress. (Well, other than the 5 MILLION that mysteriously vanished.) Paul at TPM reports on the decision the RNC recently made with regard to who it will release the emails to...
Yesterday, I noted that the Republican National Committee had a choice: turn over Karl Rove's and others' emails to Congress or give them first to the White House for the White House to determine what should be turned over.The RNC's choice won't shock anyone. From The Washington Post:
"Recognizing the unique and significant nature of the potential privilege issue raised by the committee's requests, the RNC has agreed to the White House's reasonable request," Robert K. Kelner, an RNC lawyer, wrote to Conyers. Conyers responded that the action was "a clear attempt on the administration's part to delay this process."
What a shocker, right? That this element of the scandal hasn't aroused more public interest is incomprehensible. Remember, it was the revelation of the existence of the infamous Watergate tapes that blew open the scandal that would eventually destroy Nixon. As Yankee great Yogi Berra would say, this is like deja vu all over again. Here we have a President embroiled in scandal that is refusing to hand over to Congress potentially incriminating records of his administration's criminal conduct. Senator Leahy hit the nail on the head when he said of the missing emails: “It’s like the famous 18 minute gap in the Nixon WH tapes.” The comparison could not be more spot-on. Bogus claims of "executive privilege" and a bunker-mentality White House and all.
