Goodling is likely to argue, if she is asked, that this is just administrative stuff and (not incorrectly) that emails like this are sent about a million times a day without evil intent.

My guess is she skates on this one. Doesn’t make me happy, but that is this lawyer’s judgment.

It seems that although this may not be the smoking gun, it’s yet another bullet found lodged in a wall just above the head of the person defending the constitution. Maybe she didn’t shoot him but isn’t have a concealed weapon and firing it out of CYA and delusions of poweur(sic) enough to make “senior” Senators re-examine her immunity?

Shouldn’t the Justice Department be held to a higher standard than: It’s probably not illegal what she did, it was just an amateur move. Certainly we have to have a higher standard for the people in charge of upholding our laws, right?

EL in Germany

That is precisely what Karl Rove wants.

In view of his position, he cannot hope to beat the investigations from damaging the Presidency or his sorry ass. But he can skate free on “incompetence” byes—and he will.

It seems to me the ante must be upped and crimes seriously charged before any of them feel seriously threatened. I am sure they are saying “it’s just politics..it won’t amount to that much”.

I am one who favors the impeachment route because it puts the maximum political edge on the accusations. But prosecution for a crime in a court of law is better.

UPDATE: This post is getting a lot of traffic, so let me take a moment to clarify a few things, because I don’t want people reading more into this post than the facts warrant. First, from the context of the email, it seems likely that Goodling’s primary purpose in asking people to “delete prior versions” of the documents was to make sure everyone was on the same page and not working off of outdated materials. In other words, I don’t think she was motivated by a desire to destroy documents that Congress might want for their investigation. That said, as an attorney, she should have known better than to make such a request. If there is any kind of litigation or investigation underway or even contemplated, you don’t instruct people to delete documents. It doesn’t matter if that’s your normal practice and you’re just trying to keep people from getting confused; it just looks bad, and it can get you and your organization in a lot of trouble. Goodling is not some low-level administrator. She was a senior legal counsel at the Justice Department.

That Goodling would make such a request despite the budding Congressional inquiry into the matter is, at best, indicative of carelessness and sloppy practices.

Wigwam @ 118

Plenary Pardon of Richard Nixon:

I, Gerald R. Ford, … do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from July (January) 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.

was a very bad precedent!!

it wasn’t a working “prophylactic” pardon it wasn’t enforceable but it helped the nation move on which it wanted to do

I have wondered about this, the widely asserted desire of the nation to move on. Having followed the Watergate hearings on FM radio in the lab to the point of getting little done for weeks at a time, I wanted to see the drama through. Having Ford swoop in like some deus ex machina and get Nixon off the hook, having the entire sordid, wrenching business turned into cheap tragicomedy was deeply disillusioning, and nobody in my circle of acquaintances seemed to feel otherwise. In fact, by pardoning Nixon, we felt — precisely — that the country DID NOT “move on”. We were not tired of Watergate; we wanted to see the last scene of the last act!

Move forward to Iran/Contra: Ollie North was in the hands of a master interrogator in the hearings, a New York attorney, I believe, although I can’t come up with his name; North wanted to brag about how smart he had been, wanted sympathy and praise, and he was going to let all the cats out of the bag. Overnight, the attorney was sent packing: services not needed. And we never found out anything. And we are still paying the price.

The combination of her lack of authority over the recipients and (maybe) the lack of positively trying to stop any destruction is a pretty big deal. Also, since the order to destroy has gone out, the lack of older documents is proof all by itself of destruction, obstruction and conspiracy. Either turn over the document, or go to jail. It is hard to spin this one: “she was talking about documents which didn’t exist. Don’t know why she said that, and bolded it. I have no idea why I didn’t speak up…”

The Clusterfuckers are getting close to the point where they can run out the clock on any new criminal investigation. When you see how long it took Fitzy to move from beginning to end- there may not be enough time for a conviction before the end of the administration.

Once Clusterfuck’s out of office- few will care what happens to such a case.

I’m not so sure of that. I think this time there will be enough rage to keep the Inquisition post mortem going for at least a year, which will be before the Statute of Limitations on the various crimes run out. The whole business can be handed over to a Special Prosecutor for Crimes against the Constitution, and another for Crimes Against Humanity. Perfectly dooable, and definitely desirable. There will not be a post-watergate reconciliation after this one. The damage is too great and the anger has just begun to rise.

Steve E @ 212

If and when this chick testifies get out the the Kleenx. She`s goona crumble.

Maybe Mrs. Alito can cry behind her too. So those mean Senators and Congressmen / Congresswomen leave her ALONE!

yes, it is gonna be very interesting. She’s a tool of the Bushites and the fundies, indeed……but she is also basically a clueless young kid.
Bet “the fear of God” is taking on a whole new meaning for her now, ayup.