New Justice Dept. logs suggest more White House engagement in Attorneys firings Michael Roston

Published: Tuesday May 1, 2007 Print This Email This A second log of e-mails and documents that the Justice Department considers "privileged" has been released by the House Judiciary Committee. The Committee's Chairman, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), called the logs evidence of greater White House engagement in the firing of 8 US Attorneys in 2006 and 2007. "While the Committee appreciates the production of these logs as a first step toward responding to our subpoena, the logs only further highlight the need to review the listed documents," Conyers said in a statement released to RAW STORY . "The information listed in these logs raise further concerns about the White House's involvement in the process of hiring and firing US Attorneys, as well as the way that process was communicated to Congress." The two documents contain tables of materials used to discuss news media accounts of the firing of the Attorneys, as well as preparations for responses to inquiries from members of Congress. Similar logs were released last Friday. In related news, the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law issued a subpoena today for former Deputy Attorney General James Comey, who was the second in command at the Justice Department when the firing of the US Attorneys began. The committee's chairwoman, Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-CA), said in a statement, "I believe Mr. Comey can clear up some of the confusion created by the contradicting stories we've been presented." Comey will testify on Thursday, May 3. On Friday, RAW STORY showed that the earlier set of logs suggested the Justice Department had considered employing the example of a former Attorney General who was said to have "tarnished" the administration of President Jimmy Carter in its responses to Congressional inquiries. The PDF logs are accessible at these two links: Log one; Log two. DEVELOPING ...



