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(Great photo via aussiegall.)
When Henry Waxman sees something he does not like, he sinks his teeth into the problem until he gets all the answers…and I mean all of them. Via emptywheel, we find out that Rep. Waxman has a teensy little request for the RNC:
To assist the Committee in its investigation of these issues, I request that you provide any electronic messages sent or received by Karl Rove, J. Scott Jennings, or any other White House officials using accounts maintained by the RNC that relate to (1) the January 26, 2007, PowerPoint presentation at GSA, (2) the presentation of any similar political briefings at other federal agencies or to other federal employees, or (3) the use of federal agencies or resources to help Republican candidates.
Shorter Waxman: turn over the information and no one gets hurt, unless of course, you've been committing crimes. Then all bets are off.
I don't know about you, but I'm sensing that Rep. Waxman knows a whole lot more than he's saying publicly, because he's a cards close to the vest kinda guy. Word to the RNC: don't even think of hitting the delete button.
This is shaping up to be quite the oversight juggernaught, isn't it?
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Waxman!
Henry!
YEs.!
Waxman is doing a great job!
Oversight!!! Finally!!!
na na na na na na na na Wax-Man
More GOLD from Christy!
Thanks!
oh and
WAXMAN!
Christy,
Assuming the RNC will not return the request. What legal or other options does Waxman have?
For Jane:
With much love.
w00t! Oh wow is he like a terrier on the trail. There’s no persuading him to stop. It’ll never work. XD
Great news to hear before i head to work for the day.
and
emptywheel!
They ought to seize the bloody hard-drives of every RNC computer.
I guess they’re not allowed to do so? If the printed emails show a pattern of illegal activity could they be seized then?
Be ready for more of the “Waxman is criminalizing politics” meme – which, of course, is more GOP projection. But it’s coming….
OMG! Waxman is so awesome!
Gee. He’s so polite and respectful. Who knew?!
*G*
Wonder if it’s only now the repugs are noticing there were fences on both sides of this chute.
hee hee.
I just love the Le Monde article and title from December 2005 about Waxman — you can read/see it at the link (PDF).
“Henry Waxman: l’Eliott Ness du Congres”
http://www.house.gov/waxman/news_profiles.htm
rex applegate @
9
I think the RNC will have a tough time on this one. Waxman already has the smoking gun that these accounts were used in violation of the Hatch Act, so he’s investigating a real issue. And Henry DOES have subpoena power.
Plus, as I point out in my post on this, Oversight Committee staffers have been interviewing people this week about GWB43. Tomorow Ralston is scheduled (no idea if she plans on showing, though). I suspect (though I’m guessing) that this request (which is going out today, best as I can tell) was a response to things they’ve heard this week.
I’d give better odds that the RNC will throw something Waxman’s way than that Condi will show up on April 18.
Adie @ 16
The most polite manners can usually hide the claw sharpening in the background. *grins* Seeing it in action is a thing of beauty here.
At what point does panic set in, as Waxman puts the screws to them?
The great unraveling continues apace.
The Republicans should be getting into high dudgeon any moment now.
Go git ‘em Henry!
-GSD
Shouldn’t ALL the Government/White House emails, regardless of server, be turned over to the archiving folk? And read by Congress.
ThinkProgress has more:
Waxman To RNC: Turn Over Your Emails
Elliott @ 20
Have you seen some of the Republicans lately…Gingrich…..Burton…….Hatch…they are melting in front of your eyes.
-GSD
OT– The Nation program is very good on cspan1– Rory Kennedy up now.
(she just slammed abu.)
Rory Kennedy on CSPAN 1 now
Nice visual, it think it has a great element of humor in it for this post.
OT
Students Pelt Rove After UA Speech
Roosting Chickens
GSD @ 24
it is ~sweet~
Are you now or have you ever been a “Loyal Bushie”?
Does anyone else have the feeling that the President has really lost it for good? Laura’s staying at the Mayfair, Cheney’s in the bushes, Blair is successfully using diplomacy, McCain is a goner, his minions are using Microsoft Power Point presentations on GOP politics in January and Bush is playing chicken on vetoing funding for the troops?
Someone better seriously consider if he is fit for command. Anybody listening? Is there a doctor in the house?
OT…but interesting..
Top personal blogroll links
by kos
Wed Apr 04, 2007 at 09:44:48 AM PDT
1,393 registered users have created their own personal blogrolls. With the magic of a database query, we can see which are the top blogs linked by Daily Kos diarists, and the percentage of blogrolls in which that blog appears:
1. Firedoglake 15.79%
2. TPM 15.29%
3. Crooks and Liars 14.93%
4. My Left Wing 14.00%
5. Hullabaloo 12.85%
6. Eschaton 11.20%
http://dailykos.com/
Stephen Parrish, CPA @
23
Stephen, could you repost your link, please. This one goes to Wikipedia for some strange reason.
If they start hitting the delete button, Waxman can sieze the servers and the committee can do a fishing expedition on the RNC mail servers. I don’t think the RNC is that dumb.
So if I get a subpoena or other official request, I get to ignore it just like all the rethugs?
Can we all just give a collective HAZZAH!for decency? Thank you Congressman and many others. Just Thank you
Mutant Poodle @
14
When the party in power politicizes crime, it is they who have criminalized politics.
neokneme @
30
I would LOVE to see that! Please, please, please!
eyesonthestreet @ 31
eyes, where did you get the info on Laura staying at the Mayfair?
re: The preznit being fit for office, pay attention to his increasing slurring of words.
Ah, these Republicans never thought they would ever have to face anything like this. I honestly believe that they thought that they had engineered a permanent takeover of the federal government, with the help of mass media consolidation looking the other way and diverting public attention with sensationalistic crapola masquerading as “news.” They will either fall with a specular splatter, or declare martial law to save their skins. It’s going to get mighty interesting, and soon.
I wonder how many years of incriminating e-mails are on those servers?
I wonder how many members of either house of Congress have e-mail accounts with those domains, and are panicking right now at the thought of the stuff that’s going to come out?
SCREWS!
CHS – the pic is apropos…hehehehe
I couldn’t help myself on the pix — it just seemed soooooooo perfect. *G*
Alice @ 34
I think they’ll fight it, but I don’t think they’ll win. Waxman’s asking for e-mails that were illegal to begin with. If they fight too hard, they’re going to be accused (correctly) of being part of a coverup.
Something else to think about: The RNC has got to know that their party is going to have to get as far away from Bush as possible before November 2008. If they’re covering up for him, that’s going to be hard to do. At some point, somebody is going to say, “Look, we need to take our lumps NOW, or we’re going to get demolished in the elections.” If/when that happens, they’re going to hand Rove over on a platter.
Maxi-gram!
Gnome de Plume! “~}
Hmm… about that whole Paraguay property buy by Bush.
OT–Rajiv coming up and Koppel is introducing him talking about “loyal bushies”.
Frank Probst @ 44
As I’ve said elsewhere, this request probably comes on the tails of something the Committee has heard this week–they’re busy interviewing people about the GWB43 server. Which means they’ve already got EVIDENCE of what is there/how it’s used. If they refuse to turn over the emails, it will likely be fairly easy to add obstruction charges to the Hatch Act violations they’re already guilty of.
Do you suppose there is a patriot in the cesspool delivering up goodies for our Waxman?
emptywheel @ 48
Might need to build some new Federal prisons.
EW @ 44
In other words, they’re SCREWED every which way?!?!
musicsleuth @
6
POW! ZAP! BIFF! WHAM!
AZ Matt @ 50
Blackwater’s all ready on that.
Yeah, the Democrats are not jumping up and down about this because I think they have the goods….lots of goods.
-GSD
kdh22 @ 51
Henry strikes me as the kind of person who ensures that kind of thing happens.
My Dear Guests, I am Mr. Bush, welcome to Fantasy Island.
-GSD
Some women wear scarfs.
GSD @ 54
good
Waxman and Leahy are terrific. The Iraq war, plundering the US Treasury, subverting the Constitution are just symptoms of the disease. The disease is like a tissue destroying infection that is made up of many types of bacteria.
In the current political situation the “bacteria” are christianists, kleptocrats, fascists and others. The “disease” is the Republican party and I want to see a Dem. President who will cure the Country of this disease.
Hopefully, after two years of Congressional exposure of Republican corruption and worse; that by 2008 75% of the population will be demanding prosecutions. Maybe Bill Clinton should be the Atty. General; that would be sweet revenge.
Alice @
34
But how will Waxman know if things are being deleted or not? And how do we know that gobs of stuff hasn’t already been deleted?
When does the Repub attack machine go after Henry?
They should ask for messages related to the US Attorney firings while they’re at it.
I wonder if Hank’s staff have composed letter templates in Word so that they can just merge the criminals’ names in the appropriate places? This from the Merging Queen!
The Waxman commeth! Love it, love it, love it! Check out Rude Pundit today, he is on a roll!
Nate at 60 — I have worked a kiddie porn case with some very able white collar crime computer reconstruction folks in my day. And I can tell you, quite honestly, the sorts of things they can recover are nothing short of miraculous. I’ve seen evidence they have pulled from a burned server — and I do mean burned, as in by fire. There are a lot of ways that you think you’ve deleted things that do not, in fact, truly ever erase them.
I moved back into Waxman’s district a while ago. Henry is one of those tireless guys whose main hobby interest is his job; not surprised at all he’s working this week. Article from Time on him here:
The Scariest Guy In Washington
ew?
“If they refuse to turn over the emails, it will likely be fairly easy to add obstruction charges to the Hatch Act violations they’re already guilty of. “
Who are “they” the RNC specific people? any thoughts?
digby:
Oh my goodness. It looks like our little friend Timothy Griffin, character assassin, dirty trickster and Karl Rove houseboy, may have embellished his resume. In fact, it would appear that Tiny Tim only prosecuted three cases as an assistant before he was installed in Hillary Clinton’s backyard as a Patriot Act midnight appointee to be Arkansas US Attorney… more
Timothy Griffin inflates
AZ Matt @ 50
I think they’ll drag their feet at first. They’ll say that the request is overly broad. That won’t get them far, though. They’ll get hit with something like, “We apologize for your feeling that our asking for ALL illegal e-mails on your server is ‘overly broad’. However, it would have been negligent on our part to ask for only SOME of the illegal e-mails. If you feel that the quantity of illegal e-mails in your possession makes it difficult for you to comply with our request, we would be happy to send a crew to your headquarters to help you sort it all out.”
It does appear to be getting serious. Waxman needs to be careful; republicans are unscrupulous and rife with criminal elements that don’t take kindly to having their criminality exposed: no small airplanes, stay in public view at all time.
.
But Rove does not FOLLOW any rules!
-Betsy
Sonoma Rus at 67 — I believe EW was referring to the folks who may have already violated the Hatch Act. There is also a question of a potential conspiracy to obstruct and evade the Presidential Records Act hanging out there as well, if that was, indeed, the intent behind using outside e-mails to avoid havng to keep any records of their discussions.
EW @ 48:
Oh, and don’t forget that the stupid little twerps are using TEXTING ON PRIVATE CELLPHONES to try to escape the oversight.
Nate Roberts @ 60
I don’t understand the mechanics of the process, but the great thing about electronic communication is that
“delete” doesn’t really mean delete. I think if Rove et al thought they were being clever using non-.gov servers, they are in for a real “come to Jeebus’ moment.
Elliott @ 68
yes, but he does not inhale. except, as digby notes: “They lie as easily as they breathe.”
Steve @
59
It is an active citizenry that prevents this level of corruption. Democracy is not a spectator sport, it demands your active, continuous participation.
One question…can the NSA, or whoever spies on all America’s email, get these emails from RNC if they do delete any? Or can a computer hack go into their hard drives and retrieve any deletions? Just curious. Hope someone knows the answer to this one (I’m certain Waxman does!).
someone answer the following please: if they were to press the delete button, what, exactly is left in terms of a digital trail of evidence of the email having existed in the first place?
Christy Hardin Smith @ 65
Want to be sure it’s erased? Open the drive and sand the oxide off the platters. Short of that, don’t count on anything being erased.
BC
More than anything else, this GWB43 thing gives me the tinglies. I sense a fucking goldmine here.
I’ve been kinda obsessing about this. THANK YOU HENRY!!
Nate Roberts @
60
Thing is, they can delete the copies on their servers. But other copies can reside elsewhere — and if they didn’t use encryption, anyone camped out at any node could intercept and read their e-mails without them knowing it.
We’re talking about people so stupid that they’re now using text messages on private cellphones to discuss things they want hidden from oversight.
You know, one thing that really bugs me is that these people KNOW they are covering their tracks. And why does someone cover their tracks? Because THEY know they are doing something that they don’t want others to know about. They KNOW they are doing something either illegal or “beyond the norm” that they would not be proud of.
So, how do these people REALLY BELIEVE in what they are doing, if they have to go to those lengths to accomplish their goals? I just absolutely do not understand the mindset here of “anything goes, as long as you don’t get caught”. That boggles my mind.
Alice @ 34
Nate Roberts @ 60
Steve @ 74
Especially since, being neocons, they probably hired some Republican operative’s idiot nephew, who recently graduated from Oral Roberts University with a divinity degree, to administer the servers.
As to their text messaging to escape oversight, can’t these be retrieved also? Perhaps BUSHCO has done us a favor by having all data spied upon illegally…it will turn around and bite ‘em in the butt!
Phoenix Woman @ 73
Pretty sure that my cell provider has records of my text messages. Rove himself made sure of that with one of those signing statements.
Maybe Waxman can get Homeland Security’s copies
Too bad the baseball prsident cannot appear in public anymore –no moe first pitch for Shrub.
And KKKarl is having trouble too
http://www.chron.com/disp/stor…..87751.html
Bargain Countertenor @ 79
And even then, that’s only ONE drive. E-mails pass through many nodes (and hard drives) on their journey from one computer to another, and if the message isn’t encrypted, anyone parked at one of the nodes can read the e-mails as if they were postcards.
sedrunsic @
78
EVERYTHING !!! The only thing that gets ‘erased’ is the link that enables you to open the e-mail from your desktop.
Sonoma Rus @ 67
The request is written to the Mike Duncan, Chair of the RNC. I suspect, given the weird Watergate feeling in the air, the RNC wants to avoid him getting slapped with an Obstruction charge.
A senior DOJ official taking the 5th is bad enough optics. The RNC chair getting indicted for obstruction?
Elliott @ 68
Seems to me that checking credentials is an important part of the oversight process that Congress provides when vetting nominees for US Attorney positions.
Lack of appointment hearings for Griffin meant he could get away with faking his resume.
This is yet another reason that what Specter did to the Patriot Act was so wrong.
sedrunsic @ 78
All of it!
harriett @ 85
Yep. It’s the “what comes around, goes around” theory. Otherwise known a KARMA! They truly are dumbasses! I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Thanks Hank!!!
@ 84..and getting legal advice from a Regent (aka Liberty) Univ Law grad. It could be true, there are more that 150 of these fundie moles in the administration. The good part for the Country is that they are unlikely to be smart or honest..a ban combination for them.
TexasBetsy @ 92
But when you OWN/CONTROL the servers…
http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..the-law-2/
…NONE OF IT!
zoot @ 70
Yes. I find myself a little concerned for his safety and wellbeing.
Just a thought but where was Ken Mehlman in all this? Didn’t he have a fiduciary responsibility as head of the RNC to monitor these accounts (which on their face had great potential for abuse) and to certify that they were, in fact, being used appropriately?
*xyz @ 91
I have to say that, as a physician, I really don’t understand this. Every time I apply for any sort of job, I have to prove that I really got my MD. And I can’t just say, “Here it is!” There has to be an official transcript sent from my med school. When I applied for my Texas medical license, I had to have the New York state medical board send the Texas medical board a letter saying I had a license in New York, even though you can verify medical licenses online. Why don’t high-ranked governement officials have to go through a similar sort of protocol?
I wish I could type today. Better move on to a task that doesn’t require accuracy.
sedrunsic @ 78
A lot of people think that delete means it goes away. Not so. It simply means the software marks that particular section of the drive to be available for more data. Hard drives are written and written-over many times. It’s not that difficult to recover many layers of information that has be over written. Short of absolute destruction – all that past information should be available to a good computer lab tech.
Hugh @ 97
Mehlman…I just threw up in my mouth a little.
Mary McCurnin @ 28
Thanks very much for the link. I had not seen this.
Terry Olson @ 49
Does anyone want to email Matthew Dowd to see if he is truly sincere about his change of heart? I bet he has “gwb43.com emails” out the wazoo! I’m not saying he’s a patriot though. But if he generously shared pertinent emails with Waxman of his own volition, I might change my opinion on his patriotism after all…
Frank Probst @ 98
And if there is more than a two week gap in you work history..the Medical Board will want an explanation.
Christy Hardin Smith @
65
I know one of the guys who got Martha Stewart’s criminal evidence from one such hard drive, they are top notch.
[Can someone check if I can post this without getting into trouble?]
“fiduciary responsibility”
There’s a phrase I’d like to hear the Dems start using about every other sentence.
Great Lunchtime post, Christy! Nothing like the smell of hot screws to eat by.
A year or two ago, the Rude Pundit wrote a piece asking which Republican was going to stand up against the Bush regime. At the time I think the issue was either torture or domestic spying, or probably both. His point was when will a member of the Republican party say enough is enough?
At various points, there have been a few half-hearted attempts by Republicans to slow W’s insanity or, to put it mildly, foolhardiness-Warner, Specter, Hagel.
But at some point, the real kingmakers in the GOP ARE going to have to clean house. The political consequences of the Bush/Rove/Cheney administration have become just too disastrous for them to ignore.
They’ll allow some investigations to continue-but to stop the bleeding, resignations will start to fly. And not just the Sampsons and Goodlings but the Gonzales’, Cheneys, and dare I say it, Roves.
2006 was just a taste of the electoral disaster the Rs will suffer in 08. Look at who they’ve got-Rudy, Romney, McCain. What, are you fucking kidding me? Edwards, Obama, Gore, or even Hillary would blow those guys outta the water. If the Republican party wants to stay relevant, it needs to clean house. Now.
Don’t expect it to clean house, though. And just who are the kingmakers? Well, Bush I comes to mind. Henry K is another. AEI and Heritage may say enough is enough, too. But the question is, do they still have enough power and influence to force any changes?
What’s clear, though, is the longer Waxman, Leahy, and Conyers keep digging, the more political damage the GOP suffers. Meanwhile, as long as Reid and Pelosi keep legislating, the Dems can’t be accused of not governing. Reid and Pelosi can provide cover for the folks doing the heavy lifting.
Nate Roberts @
60
It is really hard to really, completely delete things from a hard drive. Short of physically destroying hard drives and tapes, forensic computer science can recover almost anything or at least determine that things have been delibertly destroyed after a certain date. Since Waxman has already sent a request, which I think has legal weight, that the RNC preserve all emails, such evidence of data destruction would amount to comtempt of congress. Then the question is who will enforce the law?
I think AOL keeps all emails for a period of 3 years, if I’m not mistaken…
creeper @ 10:06 am -
Reposting the link that was supposed to be in my comment posted at 10:03 am:
Waxman To RNC: Turn Over Your Emails
ccmask at 107 — Well, I aim to please. *g* After all, who doesn’t like a hot screw now and then? (Sorry, you left me open for that one…hehehehehe)
Given how much $$ BushCo has spent spying on us, reading our email, and tapping our phones, I will want a hefty rebate on my taxes if the NSA can’t dig this stuff up.
Even if the RNC and Coptix were deleting from day one. Which I’m sure they were. “Delete” might well be renamed “Obstruct Justice.” Will that fit on a keyboard button?
Veritas78 @ 113
LOL
TexasBetsy @ 86
Uh-huh. Can you say “hoist by his own petard”? I knew you could.
In my eviller moments, I almost wish that — before he/she undoes the new laws Rove/Bush put into effect — the next Democratic president starts taking advantage of the destruction of habeas corpus and sends the Bush Junta to clean toilets at Gitmo. Without appeal. (Oh, at that when habeas corpus is restored, the law is made retroactive for everyone BUT the Bush Junta members rotting in Gitmo.)
And by the way: The investigators won’t even need the cellphone records from the company. As Stormcrow explains here:
Lou Costello @ 95
Really? What about the other end? I thought nothing on the internet goes direct.
Yes, Henry has to be at least 1/16 bulldog, or maybe it’s chihuahua. LOL
CHS – Can’t see how your post # 105 could get you into trouble – someone had to get the info – might get them into trouble for disclosing their role to others if they had some sort of confidentiality restriction, though.
(CHS – saw your comment on previous post – of course I understand the changes).
Petrocelli @ 76
I like this one, attributed to Fisher Ames in
the House in 1798, probably not an exact quote:
Wait, does fucking Jeff Gannon in the Lincoln bedroom count as a “political briefing?” I’m just sayin’.
Kathy @ 22
My question may be too simple. Is all communication by email/electronics these days? Doesn’t anything go by paper? Even if nothing goes by paper copies anymore, given the wording of Waxman’s request, couldn’t Ws switch to paper for the future? Or is that just too cumbersome anymore?
And if there is more than a two week gap in you work history..the Medical Board will want an explanation.
You should think of Congress as serving as the equivalent of the Medical Board for US Attorney appointments.
Getting rid of Congress’ role in the vetting process is like getting rid of the Medical Board.
Without Congress, there was no one left to check Griffin’s credentials.
Unless you expect the administration to do the oversight themselves… which is the equivalent of letting doctors confirm their own credentials.
To continue the analogy, the administration wants the U.S. Attorney appointment process to be as much of a joke as getting a chiropractic license.
RealWorld @ 109
You can bet the RNC minions have already gotten the SCREWdriver from the tool box to dismantle the PCU cabinets. Hell, they’ve prolly already destroyed several hard drives with a hammer all the while not having a clue re: off-sight servers/networks. Maybe they’ve called in Knodell. He seemed so brilliant…not.
Cujo359 @ 84
I entirely agree. Cronyism prizes loyalty and connections over competence. It is why a criminal conspiracy like this once it begins to unravel can fall apart so quickly. Here’s hoping.
Lou Costello @ 95
Except, of course, for those e-mails that are sent to parties not on those servers.
And remember that the e-mails pass through various server nodes — nodes that the RNC/Rove does NOT control — on their journeys.
(On edit: And as has already been noted, the hard drives would have to be literally sanded down to keep the information from being recovered — and doing that, or refusing to pony up the drives, is something for which Waxman can and will make them pay; it’s called ‘obstruction of justice’. Smash a hard disk? No problem; they’ll piece it together.)
tommy yum @ 119
You don’t suppose they have a video cam in the Lincoln bedroom???? Hmmm!
New thread from Jane…
eCAHNomics @ 120
Paper? Paper? Oh yeah, I remember that!
TexasBetsy at 125 — Oh sweet jeebus, please say there is no video…
JC (Jimmy Carter) just finished speaking on C-Span radio. My god what a contrast with today’s twit in the WH.
Carter has done wonders throughout the world since he has been back in the private sector as he did while in the WH. I can not imagine for one minute what the crawford crook will do post WH but I am pretty sure that he will have to stay in the US as he will be thrown into the pokey for war crimes if he travels.
kdh22 @
42
I assumed they were the “Dualing Dicks” over at BYU as the ’shooter’ today slinks his way through ‘the bushies’.
*ilbo @ 130
Bahahahaha!
Delurking to share some semi-funny Waxman info -
Remember at the Plame hearing, after much talk re Dubya’s pledge to fire anyone on his staff caught leaking…Henry said “We need clips from Jon Stewart.” My mother was close friends w/Henry’s wife Janet when the Waxmans first moved here to DC. They are still in touch, & my mother called Janet the day after Henry’s most recent appearence on Jon’s show. Janet didn’t even know Henry’d been on the show, which she DOES watch. Not as religiously as some of us, I guess.
Zee @ 81
Thank you Christy… Big Mo’ has opened the door for Big Max. Anchors aweigh!
OT but good news…
Brits get exit visas from Iran…
Christy Hardin Smith @ 128
I can’t take credit for this one, but I’d love to see a DNA-stained blue jock-strap*
*From another FDL poster whose handle I can’t recall!
Christy Hardin Smith @
65
I worry that RNC is doing the search, and it’s not difficult conduct a search poorly. I’d ensure that the trash folder and the sent folders are searched. Also the existance of any backup tapes.
Hugh @ 123
Exactly. Again, we’re talking about people who think they can use text messaging to get around Waxman and oversight.
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven
Go, Henry the W, tighten ‘em down!
That photo…looks like a #10 or #12 self-drilling washer-head sheet metal screw with chromate finish.
Don’t we have some rusty 1/2″ X 6″ square-head lag bolts around? Like the ones you find when you bulldoze an old barn?
Wow, think of all of the various “****gates” that could be solved from all of this. It boggles the mind. I’d love to see the e-mails around the time of the ‘04 election – that would call for at least ten truckloads of popcorn.
Can we call him Chainsaw Waxman yet?
Pat_AlexVA @ 135
The thing is, if they try to zap stuff from the hard drives before handing them over, that’s doomed to failure. I’ve seen data being pulled from hard disks that were literally smashed with a sledgehammer.
That means that for guaranteed concealment, they would have to totally sand/melt down all the hard drives and then be very selective of what they backed up onto the new hard drives they plan to present to Waxman. (Oh, and they have to avoid being caught doing this, or they get nailed for obstruction of justice.) And remember the sloppy editing they did of the US Attorney purge doc dumps: We have more eyeballs than they do, and better-trained ones in many cases; we can quickly find where they slipped up in their editing.
VJB @
137
It would be highly appropriate to play “Another One Bites The Dust” by Queen every time another Bushie ‘resigns’.
Gunga Djinn @ 138
I’d prefer nice clean ones, precision milled.
603857″>eCAHNomics @ 120
No it isn’t — formal communications from all Government offices, while they may composed on a computer, are printed on letterhead and mailed.
However, most of these people won’t type their own letters, which means another set of eyes is going to have to see it to type it up — all it takes is one disgruntled employee to convey a copy of those messages to an interested party.
(IOW, don’t tick off the hired help.)
Petrocelli @ 142
Yes, I like that!
In regards to the emails. Most companies will have at least one backup method or media for their servers. Some backup to disk on a SAN (Storage area Network), they could be doing an online back up of the email server to another server in another part of the country, their are disk-to-disk backup solutions, some small companies still use tape to store data off-site.
So even if someone destroyed the disk drives by drilling through them — there should be at least one backup somewhere — maybe more. But I would want Waxman and the rest of them to be very aggressive in seizing the servers or media backup soon! Because sometimes you cannot restore data, even with excellent forensics.
There was a story not long ago about a computer technician accidentally deleting applicant information for an oil-funded account of $38 million and mistakenly reformatting the backup drive, as well. Their third-line of defense were the backup tapes — and they were unreadable. All gone. So time may be of essence.
eCAHNomics @ 120
How would such paper documents be created? A quill pen? No, the documents would have been created on the White House and Executive Office Building’s computers. ALL such computers have elaborate version tracking software. Little electronic footprints tell you who created the document, when it was created, who revised the document and when it was revised. The House and Senate has similar software.
Brisingamen @
144
Yeah. Which is why it’s so stupid for reporters to haring off after “access” to the bigwigs if they’re really interested in juicy scoops; you’re better off hanging around the cafeteria or the nearest McDonald’s and listening in to the chatter.
Which is why it’s so stupid for reporters to haring off after “access” to the bigwigs if they’re really interested in juicy scoops; you’re better off hanging around the cafeteria or the nearest McDonald’s and listening in to the chatter.
worker bees don’t talk to the press. One of the ways you know a government is unraveling is when the worker bees do talk to the press. This has happened only twice in my lifetime, now and Watergate.
Quzi @ 146
That was the case of the Alaska oil fund checks. Luckily, they still had the original paper docs used to create the database in the first place, so they simply rescanned them.
Did I read that Waxman will interview Susan Ralston?
A bed of nails would have been equally apt. Mr. Waxman had better frame his requests more broadly. To those who can parse words more finely than Mr. Clinton, e-mail stored on an “RNC server” is not the same as mail stored on anyone else’s server.
GSD @
56
That’s it! The perfect job for GWB!!!
Alice @ 149
You don’t have to reveal you’re press by going up and asking folks. You wouldn’t believe the stuff you can hear, standing in line at the McDonalds three blocks from the White House. Unreal.
Neither Rove nor Ken Mehlman – a Harvard lawyer, former RNC chair and computer guru – would have put RNC or related mail on Google or Yahoo. They would have put it on specially selected machines, with storage, retrieval and delete s/w they had vetted. It will be hard to find the machines, let alone the e-mails.
Alice @ 147
Exactly.
There’s waaaay too many hard drives for them to destroy to make this work — too many HDs going “boom!” and Waxman can nail them on obstruction charges.
Phoenix Woman @ 150
that pesky paper trail comes in handy.
earlhuntingdon @ 155
Maybe those weren’t shredder trucks outside Cheney’s house. How big is a server?
Petrocelli ! 105, exactly what criminal evidence was obtained regarding Martha Stewart?
sedrunsic @
78
Ordinary ol’ “Delete” doesn’t really delete; it just removes the file name from the index, and makes the file space on the hard drive available to new files. Remember, a hard drive is basically an array of 1’s and 0’s. To really “delete” a file what you have to do is over-write the space with something else.
Bob in HI
Elliott @ 157
Which leads us to paper balloting???
Sally @
159
Sorry, I won’t comment further because my friend and I might get into legal trouble. The point was just to say if her people couldn’t remove the incriminating evidence, I think Rove & Co. are in trouble. (rubs hands gleefully)
Let me tell you how it will be;
One point for you, nineteen for me.
‘Cause I’m the Waxman,
Yeah, I’m the Waxman.
You best be sure to appear,
I’ll issue papers to bring you here,
‘Cause I’m the Waxman,
Yeah, I’m the Waxman.
kdh22 @ 161
Which leads us to paper balloting???
Indeed!
Metaphoric Kharma ?
That lead screw – the one in the front….
It’s self-drilling – Makes it’s own way thru
the toughest metals.
Like Waxman leading his committee thru Turdblossom’s armor
Veritas78 @ 113
It could be just called the “OJ” key
Petrocelli @ 162, I ask because Martha has been pilloried for so many things she didn’t do, wasn’t accused of doing, and was not charged with.
Sally @
167
In the words of my “hero” Sampson, I don’t remember ;-)
Down But Not Out @ 165
I thought Aussie screws were reverse thread!
Petrocelli @
168
I am not a legal expert, I am a meditation teacher, who holds the law of ethics above any other. The proof against Martha got her a legal slap on the wrist probably because enough people wrote ‘letters’ to the sentencing judge.
However, anyone – especially a billionaire – who lies for $55,000 or whatever the amount was, is a pauper, ethically.
PS: I use the name “Petrocelli” because my book is taking as long to complete as Tony and Maggie’s house ;-)
Terry Olson @
49
Oh, my…wouldn’t that be nice?
It seems there there are more rethugs deserting shrub every day. They’re finally waking up to the fact that their association with this rogue administration is going to cost them dearly in the next elections.
Except, of course, for Senator McCain. It looks like John’s going down with the ship.
creeper @ 171
There must be those that are now seeing the light.
Elliott @
172
Not necessarily, once those who made tons of money by backing Bush see their kitty drying up, they will throw him under the bus and latch onto another ‘money maker’, like Romney or Hillary.
Here’s my three fervent hopes:
1)Waxman, Leahy and Conyers are working somewhat in concert with a well-thought out strategy;
2)They are sitting on a goldmine of information -from various sources- that leave them each in the cat-bird seat;
3)They are controlling the momentum of events, strategically, by methodically laying the foundation, adducing the information and ensuring that each and every one of the rethug talking points is laid to rest.
In the meantime, 2008 looms larger with each grain of sand trickling through the glass and the rethugs are going to have to decide whether their lot is best cast with a sick and dying totalitarian regime or with new alliances.
I think it will be the latter although I’m not convinced that Rove and the shadowy backers of Bush/Cheney have any intention of allowing power to be wrested from their rigored grasp…They do not play by rules or law so I’m figuring that it may actually get worse before it gets better.
*xyz @
91
I don’t think it’s illegal to fake your resume. I know colleges and universities (e.g., George O’Leary) fire beloved and winning football coaches for that. I wonder if DOJ will hold their USA to the same standard.
Petrocelli @ 105, ethics works both ways. Or should.
My 177. Petrocelli @ 170 vice 105. I don’t understand what you are suggesting but it’s probably just as well.
Gunga Djinn @
138
Yeah, the ones in the barnyard with tetanus spores.
Was I being mean?
XYZ — Resume and credentials wouldn’t matter in Griffin’s case. He knew the “Loyal Bushie” secret handshake.
Is there any way to clone Henry Waxman and have him Chair every committee?
Cujo359 @ 62
raven @ 61
I think they are afraid of him. He has personal subpoena power, and is not afraid to use it. I think the press are probably a bit fearful of him, too, for what he can do with any e-mails he comes across. Using the press as Pravda also probably falls under the mandate of Congressional Oversight.
GIT ‘R DONE, Henry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Turn runt Rove over, pronto!”
Frank Probst @
98
Well, it’s usually called Congressional oversight, confirmation hearings and an agreessicve and honest news media to enable an informed electorate. Then, put in well qualified people and the results lower down will speak for themselves.
Of course, in the age of Rubber stamp Republicans, Recess appointments (Fox just got is Belgium gig), corporatized Media that passes sensationalism and lies as “news”, destruction of fairness in media (thanks Ronnie!) and an uber-conservative agenda to steal this country in the works for 30 years and well… here we are!
A bit off topic (like that ever stopped anyone, eh?), but is there a statute of limitation on breaking federal election laws?
Tell me O great attorneys present: Did the invasion and disruption of the recount polls in Florida by John Bolton and Co. break any election laws? Caught on video for all to see.
If so, ask Mr. Waxman to extend our Johnny boy an invite…..seems he was rewarded for illegal behavior with a UN ambassadorship.
SUSAN RALSTON TESTIMONY ?
Last I heard, Susan Ralston was requested to appear before the Rep. Henry Waxman’s House Oversight Committee on Thursday, April 5th (tomorrow) at 10:00am.
Nothing on C-Span website about this. Is this still on? Anybody know? Live blogging?
Don’t you think these are more to order?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumbscrew
Sorry that was low, but I’m really getting mad here. I so want to be on some campus when Rove decided to go to some pep rally.
Oversight….ain’t it a BITCH?!
Phoenix Woman @
141
But if –as we have good reason to suspect– the crimes they’ve committed, and which the emails would reveal, are bad and far-reaching enough, obstruction of justice might seem like the rational choice for them.
I mean, if the cover-up is successful, there might be little else to prosecute them for and –should we be lucky enough to have someone as good as Fitzgerald doing the prosecuting– the only convictions might of one or two more lone officials.
This is not to underestimate the public relations debacle this would mean for the White house… but, then again, their ratings couldn’t really get any lower. And, in a way, being able to get away with giving the finger to Congressional investigation in that way might even amount to a victory of sorts.