Senators seek lost Rove e-mails from White House adviser's attorney Michael Roston

Published: Friday May 25, 2007 Print This Email This A pair of Senators wrote Thursday to a private attorney for Karl Rove and asked to receive a set of e-mails from the top White House adviser that were not properly archived. "You stated publicly that Mr. Rove's emails were turned over to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald as part of the investigation into the leak of the identity of a covert CIA officer by officials in the Administration that led to the conviction of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby," Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) wrote to Robert D. Luskin of Patton Boggs, LLP in a letter sent to RAW STORY . "Do you retain possession of this electronic media and will you provide the Committee with Mr. Rove's emails related to our investigation voluntarily?" Rove has reportedly used e-mail accounts controlled by the Republican National Committee to write a large number of e-mails, which were not properly archived and permanently lost. But significant e-mails were turned over to Special Counsel Peter Fitzgerald as he investigated the Valerie Plame Wilson leak case. But, as the Senators' letter reveals, Fitzgerald did not receive paper copies of the e-mails. Instead, he was given electronic copies, which were reportedly return to Luskin. "The Department's response to the Committee, however, suggests that these emails were not in fact turned over permanently to Mr. Fitzgerald," Specter and Leahy wrote. "According to the Department, Mr. Fitzgerald only obtained access to the 'electronic media' containing these emails to do a search for documents related to the Plame investigation and then he returned this electronic media to you in a sealed condition." The e-mails are sought in connection to the Senate Judiciary Committee's investigation of the firing of 8 US Attorneys by the Justice Department.



