Reply #173: John Nichols: E-mails lost? Not likely. = "Rose Mary Woods" of scandal

[L. Coyote]

E-mails lost? Not likely
By John Nichols
http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/column/index.php?ntid=129372&ntpid=2


The U.S. attorneys scandal entered its "Rose Mary Woods" phase last week.

Woods was the longtime secretary to Richard Nixon who as a fiercely loyal employee in the waning days of the Watergate crisis claimed in grand jury testimony that she had inadvertently created at least part of an 18-minute gap on a White House audiotape that had become central to the investigation of presidential wrongdoing.

"The Rose Mary Woods Defense" proved to be a tough sell in 1974, failing to close off congressional inquiries that would eventually lead to votes by the House Judiciary Committee in favor of articles of impeachment against Nixon.

But that has not stopped the Bush White House from mounting a "Rose Mary Woods Defense" in its attempt to prevent the House and Senate judiciary committees from examining the full scope of the scandal .....

..............................

It looks like the "Rose Mary Woods Defense" is not going over any better in 2007 than it did in 1974. To his credit, the usually cautious Leahy says he is prepared to subpoena the e-mails and related documents. He won't be satisfied with dog-ate-my-homework excuses. And rightly so.

These e-mails are definitely not missing, but they may well be incriminating.

John Nichols is associate editor of The Capital Times, Wisconsin's progressive daily newspaper, where his column regularly appears.
Published: April 14, 2007