~snip~
Leahy and Schumer held a briefing for reporters Wednesday afternoon after reviewing Sampson's testimony and said there were no smoking guns expected Thursday. But they will press Sampson on inconsistencies between Gonzales's assertions of ignorance and documents produced by the Justice Department that show the Attorney General approved the firings and was involved in at least some of the deliberations.
Sampson will also directly address in his testimony the question of White House involvement. Karl Rove, Bush's closest advisor, is as much a target of Democratic interest as Gonzales is, and already it appears Sampson may walk back some of the assertions the Justice Department made regarding Rove's ignorance of the firings. In a surprising move Wednesday, the Justice Department released a new batch of over 200 documents and a correction. Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard A. Hertling said in a letter to the Senate Democratic leadership and top Judiciary committee Senators today that parts of a Feb. 23 response had been "contradicted" by documents later released by the Department. The Feb. 23 letter asserts that Rove had no knowledge of efforts to place his former deputy Tim Griffin as U.S. attorney in Arkansas, among other assertions. The documents, including an e-mail from Sampson, show Rove supported putting Griffin in place.
Democratic investigators also want to use the hearing to question the use of non-White House e-mail accounts. A watchdog organization, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, has said they suspect key players at the White House used outside accounts, including accounts at the Republican National Committee, to circumvent record-keeping required by law.
Senate investigators have pulled out one e-mail from the thousands provided by Justice wherein a staffer for Senate Republican Pete Domenici e-mails a Rove Deputy, Scott Jennings, the White House legislative liason, Candida Wolff, and someone identified only by their e-mail address kr@gwbush.com. The content of the e-mail itself is non-controversial--it refers to Domenici's suggestions for a replacement U.S. Attorney, standard practice in such appointments. But inclusion of the outside e-mail account opens the door for questioning Sampson on the use of such accounts by the White House and other administration officials.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1604401,00.html?xid=rss-topstories
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